286 RIVERBY 



" They were so unacquainted with man, 

 Their tameness was shocking to me." 



The snow was covered with the yellow chaffy 

 scales of the buds and still the birds sifted them 

 down, till I was compelled to " shoo '' them away, 

 when they moved to a tree nearer the house beneath 

 which they left more yellow chaff upon the snow. 



The mind of an observer is like a gun with a hair 

 trigger — it goes at a touch, while the minds of most 

 persons require very vigorous nudging. You must 

 take the hint and take it quickly if you would get 

 up any profitable intimacy with nature. Above all, 

 don't jump to conclusions; look again and again; 

 verify your observations. Be sure the crow is pull- 

 ing corn, and not probing for grubs, before you kill 

 him. Be sure it is the oriole purloining your grapes, 

 and not the sparrows, before you declare them your 

 enemies. I one day saw hummingbirds apparently 

 probing the ripe yellow cheeks of my finest peaches, 

 but I was not certain till I saw a bird hovering over 

 a particular peach, and then mounting upon a ladder 

 I examined it, when sure enough, the golden cheek 

 was full of pin-holes. The orioles destroy many 

 of my earliest pears, but it required much watching 

 to catch them in the very act. I once saw a phoebe- 

 bird swoop down upon a raspberry bush and carry a 

 berry to a rail on a near fence, but I did not there- 

 fore jump to the conclusion that the phcebe was a 

 berry-eater. What it wanted was the worm in the 

 berry. How do I know ? Because I saw it extract 

 something from the berry and fly away. 



