THE WINTER WEEN 121 



ted stealthily a few yards up the run and disap- 

 peared beneath a small plank bridge near a 

 house. 



I wondered what he could feed upon at such 

 a time. There was a light skim of snow upon the 

 ground, and the weather was cold. The wren, so 

 far as I know, is entirely an insect-feeder, and 

 where can he find insects in midwinter in our 

 climate? Probably by searching under bridges, 

 under brush-heaps, in holes and cavities in banks 

 where the sun falls warm. In such places he may 

 find dormant spiders and flies and other hibern- 

 ating insects or their larvae. We have a tiny, 

 mosquito-like creature that comes forth in March 

 or in midwinter, as soon as the temperature is a 

 Kttle above freezing. One may see them perform- 

 ing their fantastic air-dances when the air is 

 so chilly that one buttons his overcoat about him 

 in his walk. They are darker than the mosquito, 

 — a sort of dark water-color, — and are very 

 frail to the touch. Maybe the wren knows the 

 hiding-place of these insects. 



