FIRST DAY. 



fowl, no longer secure in their sedgy re- 

 treats, are scouring the country in all direc- 

 tions ; small birds, tamed by hunger, draw 

 near your dwelling, and robin in his scarlet 

 pourpoint, perched on the window-sill, begs 

 a crumb from your trencher. 



J. Excellent ! You should write a 

 panegyric on Dan Winter, and recite it to 

 the owls who haunt the tall elms near the 

 house. One of these creatures kept me 

 awake the whole night when I last visited 

 you. Its hooting was incessant. 



S. Not a word, as you love me, against 

 the " anchorite of birds." I have an espe- 

 cial veneration for such of the feathered 

 race as haunt old buildings, and delight 

 in watching the jackdaw in church-towers, 

 though he differs much from my solemn 

 friend the owl. Just observe them about 

 the turrets of the old minster in a cathedral 

 town. Garrulous gray-pates vie with the 

 bipeds below them. They chatter, quarrel, 



