On Hearing a Winter Wren Sing in Winter 



By LYNN TEW SPRAGUE 



When wintry winds through woodlands blow 



And naked tree-tops shake and shiver ; 



While all the paths were bound in snow, 



And thick ice chains the merry river, 

 One little feathered denizen, 

 A plump and nut-brown winter wren, 

 Sings of spring- time even there — 

 "Tsip-twis-ch-e-e-e cheerily-cheerily-dare"— 

 Who could listen and despair ? 



Charmed with the sweetness of his strain. 



My heart found cheer in winter's bluster ; 



The leafless wood was fair again, 



Its ice-gems sparkled with new luster. 



The tiny, trembling, tinkling throat 

 Poured forth despair's sure antidote, 

 No leafy June hears sweeter note — 

 " Tsip-twis-ch-e-e-e cheerily-cheerily-dare " — 

 The essence of unspoken prayer. 



"CAUGHT IN THE ACT" 



Yellow-bellied Sapsucker feeding on sap of mountain oak. Photographed from nature by Dr. Thos. S. Roberts at 

 Minneapolis, Minn., June 20, igoi 



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