WINTER FROLICS. 



55 



about by these precious children of the woods ! In 

 this respect the snowbirds and tree-sparrows differ 

 from the crested titmice, which reject the pulp of 

 the dogwood berries entirely, but bore out the ker- 

 nel of the pit and eat it with a relish. And as to 

 the gluttonous robins, bluebirds, woodpeckers, and 

 waxwings, they swallow these berries whole. Every 

 citizen of Birdville to his own taste, so I say. 



In the corn-field adjoining the woods I witnessed 

 another little scene that filled me with delight. At 

 some distance I perceived a snowbird eating seeds 

 from the raceme of a tall weed, which bent over in a 

 graceful arc beneath its dainty burden. Apparently 

 he was enjoying his repast all to himself. I climbed 

 the fence, and cautiously went nearer to get a better 

 view of the little diner-out. What kind of discovery 

 do you suppose I made ? I could scarcely believe 

 my eyes. There, beneath the weed, hopping about 

 on the snow, were a tree-sparrow and a junco, pick- 

 ing up the seeds that their little companion above 

 was shaking down. It was such a pretty little 

 comedy that I laughed aloud for pure delight. It 

 seemed for all the world like a boy in an apple-tree 

 shaking down the mellow fruit for his playmates, 

 who were gathering it from the ground as it fell. It 

 was a pity to disturb the birds at their festivities, 

 and I felt like a bully for doing so ; but in the inter- 

 est of science, you see, I had to drive them away to 

 see what kind of table they had spread. Beneath 

 the weed the snow was etched with dainty bird- 

 tracks, and thickly strewn with black seeds from the 

 raceme of the weed-stalk. 



