the bird of her inmost heart, a demure little brown creature 
with feathers all puffed out, and having, could she believe 
her eyes, almost a disconsolate air. The bird was not to be 
blamed, however, for even a braver spirit than his might 
_ have been annoyed at his bedraggled condition. Feathers, 
~ temper, and tail, all mussy with creeping through the ivy— — 
what had he to be happy about? He had nearly worn him- 
self out this snowy day as he hunted for weed seeds, which — 
were all covered up. Could a Rusty Song Sparrow with its 
_ sunny disposition be forgiven for feeling blue inside, even- 
_ though he had a brown outside? os 
= As he settled down to dry and warm his toes under his 
: body, he reached out for any goody near, and, from appear- — 
ances, this was his breakfast. He liked bird seed best, but 
now he took all in sight, and the observer could see him 
_ chirk up, and watch his feathers smooth themselves out 
closer to his body as he filled himself. Alas for bird expect- 
ations, what could a poor creature do but move on, when a 
; lady towhee with a manner quite unlike that with which — 
_ she waited on her mate’s pleasure, urged his going with 
_ open bill and vibrating wings! Justice still reigns, however, 
_ for she, too, stopped not to consider, when the bright body 
_ of her mate dropped down beside her. | 
A flock of Pine Siskins, resembling a hive of acy no 
number and flight settled down on the outflung arms of an. 
: _ alder tree, which suddenly seemed clothed in autumn foliage, — 
so many were the leaf-like birds that clung in every attitude 
_ to the alder twigs and cones. How incessantly they 
_ fluttered up and down, in and out! Unaffected, seemingly 
__ by laws of gravitation, the brown ellipsoids with flecks of | 
yellow trimmings, bobbed back and forth as if at the end of 
 anelastic cord. Darting hither and thither, now their beaks, 
now their forked tails, now white breasts uppermost, what 
eared they for a free lunch counter? Never a glance did — 
they turn toward the place where other winged creatures _ 
 gatisfied inner cravings, but kept up a continual chattering, 
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