214 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



no trace of it upon the upland fields. There are, in low- 

 lying, damp, weed-hidden nooks, a few dainty crystals, 

 that disappear before the sun rises, as though frightened 

 at what they have done. They might well have tarried, 

 for they deserve a blessing. 



What then does this first frost accomplish? The 

 pulses of the song-birds quicken, and they resume their 

 singing. Their limp wings are braced, and they scatter 

 over the fields, along the wooded hill-side and close-woven 

 thicket. Not only they, the wearied summer visitors, re- 

 appear among their several spring-time haunts, but down 

 from a frostier north, the advance guard of the winter 

 songsters come Canadian tree-sparrows, a cheery, twitter- 

 ing host come, as do many others, to make glad our 

 winters and replace those that, fearing to face the ruder 

 blasts of the north wind, seek shelter in the south. It is 

 strange that the idea is so prevalent that here in New 

 Jersey we have comparatively birdless winters. There are 

 two score species that are, with very few exceptions, mod- 

 erately abundant ; many are phenomenally so. Even 

 about the most unpromising spots, a dozen or fifteen 

 species of winter birds may readily be found. Every one 

 of the forty has been listed, and without going into a 

 wilderness too, by more than one observer. The fact is, 

 to see birds at this season, one must not stick closely to the 

 highways, but pass from field to meadow, from woodland 

 to marsh, to do so. Forty species may seem an extrava- 

 gant claim, but it is a simple statement of fact. There 

 are at least forty. Why call it thirty-nine ? It has been 

 flatly contradicted. Well, there is an element of our 

 population that, having ears and eyes, yet neither hear 

 nor see, and these are they who, lacking powers of obser- 

 vation, are prone to criticism. It is a good plan to listen 

 to the nut-hatch, while these critics carp, for the bur- 

 den of that bird's song is crank-crank ! crank-crank! 



