AMONG THE BIRDS IN WINTER. 275 



and grubs which are much more to their taste. 

 Indeed, the Redwing only takes to berries as a 

 last resource, its food consisting almost entirely of 

 animal substances. This bird suffers much priva- 

 tion during a long-continued frost. I have known 

 them so tame at such a time as to allow them- 

 selves to be taken by the hand, and every particle 

 of fat has wasted from their little bodies. They 

 now frequent the banks of the streams, manure 

 heaps, and even doorsteps and window ledges 

 where crumbs have been thrown out for the 

 Sparrows and Robins. In the late winter months, 

 when the berries are all gone, the Fieldfare will 

 do the same. 



Many birds, however, show little concern after 

 a heavy fall of snow. The Finches are seldom 

 troubled by severe weather, so long as the different 

 kinds of seeds on which they live are not hidden 

 by the snow, which is rarely the case in this 

 country. They feed on the stubbles, along the 

 hedgerow sides, and on commons where thistles, 

 docks, wild mustard, and other weeds rear their 

 tall stems far above the snow-wreath. At this 

 season of the year many hard-billed birds, such as 

 Greenfinches, Chaffinches, and Buntings congre- 

 gate near farmhouses and in stackyards, picking 

 up the scattered corn, or pulling out the ears of 

 grain from the ricks. The woods are made lively 

 with little companies of Titmice that industriously 

 search every twig and bud and cranny for insects 

 and larvae, or pay a fleeting visit to the elder trees 



T 2 



