238 CROSS-CUT VIEWS OF WINTER. 



Northern seas. Would it not be an entrancing 

 spectacle to witness such a cluster of animated 

 snowballs ? 



There is another hardy little seed-eater which 

 often stops with us all through the cold season, 

 as well as in the summer-time. By the first of 

 November the goldfinch has changed his bright 

 lemon-colored suit for a brown and yellowish-green 

 coat that he wears through the winter. Even 

 his bill, that in the breeding season is buff-yel- 

 low, has been painted dark brown. He is wrapped 

 up so differently, the color of his plumage appear- 

 ing to have changed the contour of the body, and 

 the condition of the season often putting him in 

 such diverse situations, that it is at times quite 

 difficult to make him out. He is found clinging 

 to the slender spray of the birches and alders in aU 

 sorts of uncomfortable positions, apparently amus- 

 ing himself by pecking at the last year's catkins, 

 pulling off scale after scale, flirting them away 

 with his bill, and turning his head to see them 

 float off in the breeze and settle on the snow. 



Sometimes the lesser red poll, another brave, 

 weather-proof little visitant from the North, is 

 found in his company, perhaps because he is a near 

 relative. The shape of his tail, wings and bill are 



