musical twitter, seeming to wish each other ‘good hunting.” - 
As the outside door was opened to give the observer a 
better view, with one movement, which had the shrill sound 
of a vibrating wire, or the whir of a breaking spring, they 
were off, leaving the watcher to wonder at their ways. How 
were they led and what guided them in their headlong, 
erratic flight from treetop to treetop without accident or the | 
apparent loss of a single individual out of ios host of —| 
birds? 7 
: Occasionally during the day the ba citink cacatal note = 
of a Varied Thrush came fluting out through the falling — 
- snow from some of the hidden places of the grove, but not 
| - once did he come to the table, during this snow, although the _ 
day before a flock of eight of these lovers of dampness had 
- been seen in a Set cndhad spot of theirs beneath the kitchen 
windows. | 
| With what interest had these cousins of the robins been 
watched, as each selected a bit of ground and threw to right 
or left the dead leaves, which were scattered about in the 
sparse high, green grass. At each effort of the swinging 
bill, the bright eyes inspected the upturned leaf and its 
former quarters, with frequent rushes to gather invisible 
delicacies that rewarded their efforts. Not once did they 
step inside another’s territory. Why, this day they pre- 
_ ferred their own quarters remains a mystery, but their dis- 
tant notes recalled memories of days and places when they _ 
had been more friendly, and had dined on one side of a 
window while the observer dined on the other. 
A decaying cedar stump in the yard aterarted the 
attention of a Northwestern Flicker that methodically in- 
vestigated every square inch of its front surface, thrusting 
his long, forked tongue into all holes and crevices in search 
of unwary termite or luscious grub that might be there. 
When spoils were scarce he braced himself by his stiff tail 
feathers, and struck the black chisel which he carried on the 
front of his head down into the wood with a hammering — 
124 
