My Boyhood and Youth 



loved by every innocent boy and girl, man and 

 woman, and by many not altogether innocent, 

 was one of the first of the birds to attract our 

 attention, drawing nearer and nearer to us as 

 the winter advanced, bravely singing his faint 

 silvery, lisping, tinkling notes ending with a 

 bright dee, dee, dee! however frosty the weather. 

 The nuthatches, who also stayed all winter 

 with us, were favorites with us boys. We loved 

 to watch them as they traced the bark-furrows 

 of the oaks and hickories head downward, 

 deftly flicking off loose scales and splinters in 

 search of insects, and braving the coldest 

 weather as if their little sparks of life were as 

 safely warm in winter as in summer, unquench- 

 able by the severest frost. With the help of the 

 chickadees they made a delightful stir in the 

 solemn winter days, and when we were out 

 chopping we never ceased to wonder how their 

 slender naked toes could be kept warm when 

 our own were so painfully frosted though clad 

 in thick socks and boots. And we wondered 

 and admired the more when we thought of the 

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