306 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



taken them in Putnam County in July, but no well 

 authenticated record of their nesting in the State lias, 

 as yet, been made. 



Among the superstitious many curious legends exist 

 accounting for the origin of certain well known char- 

 acters of our common birds. For example, the red 

 breast of the robin is said to have resulted from a 

 habit that these birds had, in the misty past, of filling 

 their bills with water which they carried to the brink 

 of Hades and dropped down to the thirsty unfortunates 

 below, their breasts meanwhile becoming scorched by 

 the flames from the infernal regions. In like manner 

 the curved mandibles of the cross-bills are accounted 

 for by saying that these merciful birds tried to pull 

 the nails from the cross, and in so doing twisted their 

 bills in such a way that they will always bear the 

 symbol of their good deed. 



XI. 



When, after a few weeks of imprisonment within 

 the city, the naturalist goes forth to make new friends 

 among the denizens of the w r oods and fields, the pure 

 country air has, at times, a curious effect upon his 

 mind, causing strange thoughts to well up therein 

 concerning the relations of man to the animals and 

 plants about him, and especially to the earth itself. 

 Thus, on one of the pleasant afternoons of late Feb- 

 ruary, as I tramped over a wooded knoll east of the 

 city, I found myself likening the earth to a great 

 round animal, moving on an eternal journey through 

 space, and of mankind as mites, preying upon its 



