NEW GLEANINGS IN OLD FIELDS 



white and blue are revealing colors in the neutral 

 woods. But, however much the nuthatch may be 

 handicapped by its coloration, it far outstrips the 

 creeper in range and numbers. Its varied diet of nuts 

 and insects no doubt gives it a more vigorous con- 

 stitution, and makes it more adaptive. It is the 

 vehicle of more natural life and energy. 



How winter emphasizes the movements of wild 

 life ! The snow and the cold are the white paper upon 

 which the print is revealed. A track of a mouse, a 

 bird, a squirrel, or a fox shows us at a glance how 

 the warm pulse of life defies the embargo of winter. 

 From cracks and rents in the frigid zone which 

 creep down upon us at this season there issue tiny 

 jets of warm life which play about here and there 

 as if in the heyday of summer. The woods snap and 

 explode with the frost, the ground is choked with 

 snow, no sign of food is there for bird or beast, and 

 yet here are these tiny bundles of cheer and con- 

 tentment in feathers — the chickadees, the nut- 

 hatches, and their fellows. 



