BIRD PARADISE 261 



dents were well entered upon the unbroken quiet 

 of their long winter campaign. A brief conver- 

 sation with the crows revealed the fact that they 

 were rejoicing over the somewhat unusual supply 

 of food they had in the desiccated grasshoppers 

 stored nicely in the wide cupboard of the thick 

 grass. I assured the fellows that I knew of no 

 better use to which the grasshopper could be put. 

 Just at the brook side, where the water ripples 

 away to the valley below, I saw where the musk- 

 rats had preempted a claim and were busy put- 

 ting up their winter cottages. Just beyond their 

 cabins I saw in the light snow the trail Mr. Fox 

 leaves behind him as he goes tripping along. 

 Eeturning, I came upon a flock of yellowbirds 

 feeding on the seeds that waved in the tall grass 

 at the roadside. Their salutation to the pai-son 

 was bright and cheery, a very proper conclusion 

 with which to close a long stroll. 



A pair of nuthatches have been over from the 

 swamp this afternoon and given an hour or more 

 to patrolling my lawn trees. They belong to the 

 woodpecker family and although the smallest of 

 this large household are in some respects the 

 most attractive. I rarely see them in companies 

 of more than two, but the two are social after a 



