AUTUMN AND WINTER BIRDS 133 



goldfinches. Here observe a tall, nodding thistle- 

 head, its once dark green leaves shrivelled up and 

 turned to grey, its purple flower-rays to russet 

 brown. They contain ripened seeds. A goldfinch 

 hangs to the under surface, and a rose-breasted 

 linnet clings to the topmost spray. The two frail 

 things are not unlike in form, though the goldfinch 

 is by far the handsomer bird. His prettily-shaped 

 beak is flesh-coloured, as are also his legs. His head 

 has patches of scarlet, white, and black, each well 

 defined and setting off the other. The breast and 

 back are of varying tints of warm russet brown, and 

 the feathers of the wing are picked out with orange. 

 His tail is alternately elevated and depressed as he 

 changes his position; and the patches of golden 

 yellow are well brought out as he flutters from spray 

 to spray. Thus do the linnet and the goldfinch 

 go through the winter, together ranging the fields 

 and feeding upon the seeds they can pick up. 



IV 



THE SNOW-WALKERS 



THIS morning I look upon a world unknown. The 

 sun shines, and a rosy suffusion lies over the land- 

 scape. All the fences are buried deep, and the trees 

 stand starkly outlined against the sky. Millions 

 of snow-crystals glint athwart the fields. Birds 



