56 WINTER 



of fruiting dogwood and holly, cedars in berry, 

 dwarf sumac and seedy sedges, while patches on the 

 wood slopes uncovered by the sun were spread with 

 trailing partridge-berry and the coral-fruited winter- 

 green. I had eaten part of my dinner with the 'pos- 

 sum ; now I picked a quantity of these wintergreen 

 berries, and continued my meal with the birds. 

 And they too, like the 'possum, had enough, and 

 to spare. 



Among the birds in the tangle was a large flock 

 of northern fox sparrows, whose vigorous and con- 

 tinuous scratching in the bared spots made a most 

 lively and cheery commotion. Many of them were 

 splashing about in tiny pools of snow-water, melted 

 partly by the sun and partly by the warmth of their 

 bodies as they bathed. One would hop to a softening 

 bit of snow at the base of a tussock, keel over and 

 begin to flop, soon sending up a shower of sparkling 

 drops from his rather chilly tub. A winter snow- 

 water bath seemed a necessity, a luxury indeed; for 

 they all indulged, splashing with the same purpose 

 and zest that they put into their scratching among 

 the leaves. 



A much bigger splashing drew me quietly through 

 the bushes to find a marsh hawk giving himself a 

 Christmas souse. The scratching, washing, and talk- 

 ing of the birds; the masses of green in the cedars, 

 holly, and laurels; the glowing colors of the berries 

 against the snow ; the blue of the sky, and the golden 



