381 
.j 
^ I. 
1882.] 
light. 
like^^^e held up to 
pod bui*!»t§^ and the silver-winged seed 
first is set partly free, it instantly coils 
and twists around the stem, as if loath 
to depart. The lower half of the plant 
thus becomes tangled and draped with 
this fine curling silver plumage, rising 
above which stands the sujjerb colum¬ 
nar red stem set with the narrow red 
pods. There are many wild clearings 
where this fire-weed grows solid by 
the acre ; and on a breezy day in Sep¬ 
tember every wind that sweeps across 
snatches whole fields of these silver 
plumes, and whirls them aloft, to sepa¬ 
rate and float, and drift as they may. 
We saw on this day, in many a sky 
“offing,” fleets of them, which had al¬ 
most a preternatural look, as of shoals 
Our Winter Birds. 
When the 
of glittering pearl flies, or slow-floating 
snow, where no snow could be. At sun¬ 
set, great masses of crimson and 
gold 
clouds hovered above the heights where 
morning. Long 
we had been in the 
after these had all faded into gray, there 
lingered at the highest peak, as if cling¬ 
ing to it, one long narrow thread of 
crimson. It seemed to float like a ban¬ 
ner ; and, recalling the weird valley and 
the weird waters, lying high, dark, and 
lonely at the foot of this peak, and 
the tone of voice in which the doctor’s 
wife had asked, “ What more could I 
want?” it seemed natural enough that 
a cloud should linger and float there, 
unseen and unknown of the strange re¬ 
cluses, but keeping “ colors flying ” for 
them till dark. 
. H. H. 
OUR WINTER BIRDS. 
After several years’ careful obser-. 
vation in Southern New Jersey, I find 
that winter gives us a phase in the life 
and character of birds quite unlike that 
displayed in summer by the same spe¬ 
cies, yet none the less interesting. 
The permanent residents of this lati¬ 
tude which come about our house and 
grounds are the song sparrow, field spar¬ 
row, English sparrow, yellow-bird, pine 
linnet, bluebird, robin, meadow lark, 
quail, bluejay, crow, and several species 
of hawks and owls. The Northern 
birds which make this section their win¬ 
ter home are the white-throated spar¬ 
row, fox sparrow, tree sparrow, chick¬ 
adee, and the dark slate-colored spar¬ 
row, or snow-bird, as it is more usually 
called. There are also several species 
restricted to the woods, with which I am 
unfamiliar. 
Most of these birds will become quite 
tame with a little care on our part, and 
will soon come to look to us for their 
daily food. Especially if the ground is 
covered with snow, they will learn to 
become clamorous for their food, even 
alighting on the window-sills and strik¬ 
ing the glass, apparently to attract at¬ 
tention to their wants. In summer the 
same species are much more shy, so 
winter gives us a better opportunity to 
study the habits and dispositions of the 
various birds which remain with us. 
, AVith most species family ties are 
not broken in winter. Bluebirds, per¬ 
haps more so than most of our birds, 
maintain a strict family relation during 
the winter, —even while assemblin<y in 
large flocks. Not only do the partners 
remain true to each other durimj their 
lives, but they continue their care over 
the young throughout the first fall and 
winter. 
AYlien a pair of bluebirds succeed in 
rearing three broods in a season, in the 
autumn these broods unite and stay 
with the parents, making a little flock of 
