I had learned this much, that one Downy at
least sometimes liked to be abed on cold mornings. Perhaps he knew that
there was no early worm about at this season.

_Birds and the Night._--It may be that others of our winter birds also
make excavations for sleeping quarters; the Chickadee and Nuthatch very
probably do so, although I have never found them thus engaged. It is
well known that many small birds creep into holes to pass the night. Old
nesting {85} places of Woodpeckers are thus again rendered useful, and
many of the natural cavities of trees contain, during the hours of
darkness, the little warm, pulsating bodies of birds.

Quails invariably roost on the ground regardless of the time of year, or
the prevailing weather conditions. An entire covey numbering sometimes
twelve or fifteen will settle for the night in a compact circular group
with heads pointed outward. When a heavy snow falls they are completely
buried, and then if a hard crust forms before morning their roosting
place becomes their tomb. Grouse now and then are trapped in the same
way, but their superior strength enables them to break through and
escape. In fact, these larger birds often deliberately go to roost
beneath the snow, breaking through the crust by a swift plunging dive
from the air. Bearing these facts in mind it is easy to understand why
Quails often become scarce in a country where Grouse abound.

Small birds pass the winter nights in evergreens, thick-growing vines,
under the eaves of verandas, or {86} on the rafters of bridges. Many
creep into cracks of outhouses. I have found them at night in caves,
barns, and once in a covered wagon. Almost any available shelter may
have its bird tenant on cold nights, who if undisturbed will often return
again and again to the refuge it has once found safe and comfortable.

Birds that pass the winter in the Northern States are subjected to many
hardships. In fact, the fatalities in the bird world in winter are so
great, and the population so constantly reduced by one form of tragedy or
another, that it is only the stronger and more fortunate individuals of a
species that survive to enjoy the summer.

_The Food Question in Winter._--Where to secure the food is the big
question which confronts every bird when it opens its eyes on the first
snowy morning of winter. Not only has the whole aspect of the country
been changed, but the old sources of food have passed away. Not a
caterpil