92 
OUR BIRDS IN WINTER. 
in a party to a thicket of cedars and pines, in 
whose thick foliage, protected from the cold- 
ness of the night winds, they sought the rest 
that is always most grateful to all the inhabi- 
tants of the forest. 
CHAPTER II. 
The next morning was bright, and for the 
season mild and comfortable. The birds were 
astir early, as usual, and their cheerful notes 
enlivened the woods in all directions. Mr. 
and Mrs. Chick-a-dee, with a few particular 
friends, separated from the main body, and 
followed a ravine that was watered by a small 
brook, down to a swamp, that, being sur- 
rounded by hills on all sides, afforded a most 
comfortable retreat for the feathered inhabit- 
ants of the woods through the winter. 
The warm water of the brook coming from 
the springs that dotted the sides of the ravine, 
and the genial rays of the sun, had melted the 
