60 
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST, 
C. — Ah ! there they are^, peeping round the edge : how 
curious they seem respecting us ! how they stretch out their 
necks to observe us ! 
F, — = It is the red-bellied black-capped Nuthatch ( Sitta 
V mia ) ; its food is insects, which it finds even at this sea- 
son^ beneath the bark^ and in the crevices of the trees. Its 
feet are large and strong ; fitted to take hold of the projec- 
tions and roughnesses of the bark;, by which it is able to 
crawl freely on the perpendicular trunks with the head either 
upward or downward ; or even on the under surface of the 
branches. 
C" — Where are they gone? These woods, which just 
now were full of their notes^ are now quite deserted and 
silent : even the titmice have left us too : all the birds have 
gradually sneaked off^ thinking us disreputable or dangerous 
neighbours. 
F, — ■ The unvarying effect of the Divine decree : the 
fear of you^ and the dread of you^ shall be upon every beast 
of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that 
moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea/' 
It is not, however, always a subject of gratification to a be- 
nevolent mind, to find oneself an object of terror and detest- 
ation ; though it must be confessed it is not a causeless dread ; 
for man has most tyrannically abused the dominion over 
the inferior animals, which was given him for better pur- 
poses. 
(7. — See : there are some tokens of returning spring : the 
small flies, different species of MuscidcBy are busy preening 
their wings, and rubbing their feet together, on the dunghill. 
They have probably been newly hatched by the heat. 
F, — ■ That is scarcely likely ; for as the manure has 
all accumulated through the winter, it is not at all pro- 
