. News from the birds . er on in thewoods, I was saluted by the crested chicka-dees dainty cousin, the black-capped titmouseor tomtit, a rare little beau which enlivensmy neighborhood all winter, no matter howsevere the weather. He and his fellows werescurrying about on the snowy ground, hunt-ing for seeds, forgetting, it seemed, that theirfeet were bare and their carpet icy cold. Ifone only knew how one could make a pair oftiny socks for his feet, and could induce himto wear them ! But I suppose he would de-cline them with scorn, declaring that he wasno tenderfoot, and that the hose manufactu
. News from the birds . er on in thewoods, I was saluted by the crested chicka-dees dainty cousin, the black-capped titmouseor tomtit, a rare little beau which enlivensmy neighborhood all winter, no matter howsevere the weather. He and his fellows werescurrying about on the snowy ground, hunt-ing for seeds, forgetting, it seemed, that theirfeet were bare and their carpet icy cold. Ifone only knew how one could make a pair oftiny socks for his feet, and could induce himto wear them ! But I suppose he would de-cline them with scorn, declaring that he wasno tenderfoot, and that the hose manufacturersmight become bankrupt for all he cared. The tomtits flitted about among the ice-clad twigs, twining their claws around themwithout fear of chilblains. Occasionally theywould slip a little, but by the aid of their wings 158 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. would soon recover their balance. Yet theyseemed to utter their disgust at such treacher-ous perches by impatient chirps. One of themflew to the bole of a dogwood sapling, and. The chickadees winter breakfast. clinging there almost like a nuthatch, thrust hisbill into a small hole in the bark and tried topry and pick out a toothsome morsel of somekind. He worked with so much zest that hedeserved success, whether he won it or not. IN THE ICE-CLAD WOODS. 159 The conduct of the downy woodpeckers—drum majors of the woods—wTas odd. Theyseemed to have a spite at the ice, for theycluitg to the slender branches and hammeredaway as if their life depended upon their ef-forts, making the icy particles fly in all direc-tions. No; they would not be outwitted bythe ice in that way and cheated of their din-ner, but wherever they could see a juicy grubor bud beneath the crystal coating they wouldchisel their way to it with their stout once or twice they hammered on theboles of the trees where there was no coveringof ice. These woodpeckers are very reckless tiltersand climbers, hurling themselves from tree totree with break-neck swiftne
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