Odds and Ends 137 



of berries the kinds too that are regarded as poisonous 

 to man eating the juicy pulp in their dainty way, and 

 dropping the seeds and rind to the ground. In the 

 ravine furrowed out by a stream this is down in one 

 of the hollows there is a perfect network of bird tracks 

 in the snow beneath a clump of weed stalks. How 

 dainty they are, like tiny chains, twisted and coiled about 

 on the white surface! They were made by the juncos 

 and tree sparrows, and on examining the seed pods and 

 clusters above the bank we note that they are torn and 

 ragged. The feathered banqueters have been here, and 

 while they were industriously culling the pods, some of 

 the seeds fell to the white carpet below, and these have 

 been carefully picked up by the birds, as we see, so that 

 nothing should be wasted. 



It is not often you catch a bird in the singing mood 

 in the winter; yet on December 19, a purple finch was 

 piping quite a vivacious tune in the woods. Of course, 

 he was not in his best voice, but his performance was 

 good enough to entitle it to the name of bird music. The 

 finches, by the way, are strong flyers. At your approach, 

 instead of flitting off a little way, perhaps to the next 

 tree or bush, after the manner of the tits and nuthatches 

 and many other birds, the finches tarry in the tree- tops 

 as long as they deem it safe, then take to wing and fly 

 to a distant part of the woods, and you may not see 

 them again that day. However, they may come back 

 to you after a while, as if they relished your company. 

 The goldfinches are also long-distance flyers, not flitters. 



