WINTER 



us can anticipate such results, but with greater 

 opportunities many of us might experience in 

 some degree the joy of observation and investi- 

 gation. 



The time will come, I hope, when I can spend a 

 whole year in the country. It is perfectly true 

 that the contrast between town and country gives 

 a flavor to both in turn that otherwise would be 

 lacking. But unless on the spot all the year 

 round the country-lover is sure to miss many 

 events of importance. During the winter espe- Winter 

 cially, when vegetable life is dormant and when 

 animal life is infrequent, an occasional walk is 

 likely to be poor in episodes of striking interest. 

 In the books of John Burroughs and in Thoreau's 

 journals I read enviously the winter notes on 

 owls, partridges, red-polls, cross-bills, chickadees, 

 and nuthatches, on mink, musk-rats, foxes, and 

 squirrels. But even these brief lists covered not a 

 single walk or a special day ; they were the results 

 of weeks of observation on the part of unusually 

 keen observers. 



For myself, almost the only birds that I see on 

 my occasional country walks in winter are the Cr&w$ 

 crows. Perhaps because of this their cries as they 

 reach my ear through the frozen silence sound 

 pleasing and really musical. And I like to pause 

 and watch them flap their deliberate way across 



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