sinner he is ! But how superb ! No cheeping, 

 no cowering, no huddling together for him. 

 How I hate and admire him ! 



But birds that have hearts in their breasts, 

 though they were as foreigners to one another 

 in the summer, nesting in regions far apart, will 

 flock during the long deep snows and hard 

 weather. Every winter I see mixed bands of 

 goldfinches, juncos, and tree-sparrows whirling 

 over the snow, the goldfinches leading— all of 

 them in search of grass and seedy weed-heads. 

 Nuthatches, kinglets, and chickadees will yank- 

 yank, tee-tee, and phee-he-be by the hour together, 

 apparently to their great consolation and mu- 

 tual support. 



This misery-made companionship, though real 

 and helpful at the time, is doubtless not quite ' 

 self-forgetful enough to be called friendship. A 

 goaded friendship must lack something of friend- 

 ship's virtue. 



Of a different quality entirely seems the feel- 

 ing that holds the broods of certain birds to- 

 gether in a real, intimate family life. Family 

 life among the birds? We usually think of the 

 nestlings as being led out by the parent birds 

 17 [257] 



