60 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



blackbirds and orioles. What a woodsman the 

 kingfisher must be ! Do the hemlock's longest 

 branches tip to the east ? Does the lichen grow 

 on the north side of the trees ? Ask him for his 

 compass. He needs no trail. Follow him and he 

 will teach you the secrets of the forest. For here 

 lies the witchcraft of our new world halcyon, 

 rather than in the charming of sailors' lives, or in 

 the stilling of the sea. 



XVII. 



CHIP-BIRD OR CHIPPY; HAIR-BIRD; CHIPPING 

 SPARROW; SOCIAL SPARROW. 



WE have already had "chimney swallows " that 

 were not swallows, crow blackbirds that were not 

 crows, partridges that were grouse, and kingfishers 

 that dug holes in the ground, besides bluebirds 

 and humming-birds and robins and chickadees and 

 catbirds and cuckoos, all crowded together ; and 

 now we are coming to that vexatious family, the 

 sparrows. How can any one be expected to re- 

 member such a medley long enough to know the 

 birds out of doors? I never really knew them 

 until I pigeon-holed them, and I believe that is 

 the best way. But how shall we go to work ? 



Ornithologists separate our birds into seventeen 

 orders, and divide these into numerous families 

 and genera and species. We should have to turn 



