Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-03-17

comfortable IlttlG fortune IN his profession
For the Freeman.
From a Farm.
When the short winter days are long for
the monotony of indoor life, when all ma.
ture is dead and silent, but for the dreary
winds that blow, and the almost UNMARRIED
scene is the dark, unlifelike foliage of the
evergreens, and leailess trees, and an
endless stretch of snow or the dali brown
of the landscape after n thaw, then that
which has life makes cheer.
The birds which stay with lis in spite of
storm and cold make winter more endur-
able. l hang II bone short distance
from the window, and watch the little
creatures as they gather around it. A
saucy woodpecker takes possession, and
the chickadees have to wait. His bright
eyes, the quick motions of his scarlet
topped head and mottled body are inter-
esting, but he is not so lovable rs the
modest chickadees. These eat by turns,
one at n time. cannot see that there is
any strife among them, but while one is
eating others sit upon twigs of n tree near
and sing cheerily, and when the first has
satisfied his hunger and fitted away, an
other takes his place. He perches upon
the bone and reaches far down into the
hollow of il, so that he seems to be stand
ing upon his head, pecking at the marrow,
evidently dainty to bird paates. We
were visited with few English sparrows
last winter for the first time. They dis
appeared in the summer, and have not yet
returned, though hope they will. They
are such plump, thrifty looking birds one
cannot help liking them.
From the birds | turn to my house
plants, and here is life; not the luxuriance
and vigor and bloom of open air and warm
weather, but still life that grows, and
pushes, and changes little every day,
and the few blossoms are more precious
than summers proiusion.
Here in box of plants | have little
toad not much more than an inch in
length. Unlike his kin under the snow,
dormant in the frozen ground he is awake
and active, and requires to be fed. l
catch the occasional flies that crawl from
creviccs to warm themselves on sunny
days. These he snaps up eagerly, but
they are few, and the little fellow is grow
ing thin, 50 7 experiment with fresh
meat cut into bits about the size of IL
ly, and find he takes them readily from
the end of a broom splinter. lie ate six
of these pieces in succession one day, then
retired into his hole, covered himself, and
was not TO be seen for two or three days.
IN another flower pot are three tiny
snails that appear dead until moisten the
EARTH when they put forth their horns and
crawl about with their curious round
houses upon their backs.
Then there are my two catS-nohlc,
great creatures one weighing twelve
pounds, the other always about half
pound less; one with IL gray striped coat,
white throat and feet, and beautiful, large,
soft gray eyes; the other black, with
white toe, eyes amber when in Tepose,
black rs ink when he is excited. Both of
these cats are good hunters, but the gray
exccls. have pinned up in my room
thirteen squirrel tails-trophies of the
chase-whch with the poor squirrels that
owned them were caught Ivy this cat late
in the fall, just before winter set in
The black cat is of a shy disposition,
and seldom brings his prey into the house.
do not require my cats to earn their
living. They are bountifully fed limiting
is only sport, and if they choose they sleep
all day long in blissful repose on the
lounge in the sitting room, and all night
in box in the kitchen, from whence thcy
can @ out and in at will through an
opening, closed bv - small door which
swings Mt their touch.
My cats are truly members of the fami-
ly; they have their choice lit-bits at the
table, and they are free TO enter almost
every room in the house. especially mine.
Here the gray cat brings his mice and
squirrels, knowing that ne will be unmo-
Tested, and if he is not hungry hides his
game in II corner of the closet for future
necessity. Here the black one us II habit
OF coming in the summer nights, by
climbing an apple tree, going across the
kitchen roof, IN mt an open window,
through two rooms, then into mine. One
night he announced his approach by II
boisterous meow. A light sleeper below
stairs, thinking cat was shut in the house,
called him. lie ran obediently down and
was put out In less than five minutes he
was back again by way of the apple tree
and staid until morning.
Tne gray ca, will leave the softest
cushion to make himself II nest in my lap.
If sit down of an afternoon To sew, he
is sure to take This privilege, even without
permission.