SOME LABRADOR TREES 
thick, sturdy yellowish green needles of the 
red spruce, the slender, more delicate blueish- 
black foliage of the black spruce, and the hand- 
some blue green branches of the white spruce 
are generally recognizable at a glance. One 
recognizes one’s friends, however, not by noting 
that their eyes are black or blue, their noses 
are aquiline or otherwise, but by their general 
appearance, their distinctive air, by an in- 
tangible something one would be at a loss to 
define. I have known two brothers, one with 
black eyes, the other with blue, one with a 
beard, the other beardless, yet with a such 
strong family likeness to each other that they 
have been mistaken at a distance. The ornt- 
thologist often recognizes birds by little traits 
that are unknown to the beginner, who is 
slowly mastering the recognized field marks 
of the books. The former knows a blue-bird 
in the dusk when the blue back and the red 
breast look all of one colour. In the same way 
the master of the subject of trees can often tell 
at a glance the species, although he may not 
be conscious of the steps by which he arrived 
at his diagnosis. To an amateur this is a con- 
summation devoutly to be hoped for, and in the 
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