178 OUTDOOR STUDIES 
the airy creatures nurtured in those nests have 
left permanently traced upon the air behind 
them their own bright summer flight, the whole 
atmosphere would be filled with interlacing 
lines and curves of gorgeous coloring, the cen- 
tre of all being this forsaken bird’s nest filled 
with snow. 
Among the many birds which winter here, 
and the many insects which are called forth by 
a few days of thaw, not a few must die of cold 
or of fatigue amid the storms. Yet how few 
traces one sees of this mortality! Yonder a 
dead wasp has fallen on the snow, and the 
warmth of its body, or its power of reflecting 
a few small rays of light, is melting its little 
grave beneath it. With what a cleanly purity 
does Nature strive to withdraw all unsightly 
objects into her cemetery! Their own weight 
and lingering warmth take them through air or 
water, snow or ice, to the level of the earth, and 
there with spring comes an army of burying- 
insects, Wecrophagi, in a livery of red and black, 
to dig a grave beneath every one, and not a 
sparrow falleth to the ground without know- 
ledge. The tiny remains thus disappear from 
the surface, and the dry leaves are soon spread | 
above these Children in the Wood. 
Thus varied and benignant are the aspects of 
winter on these sunny days. But it is impos- 
