By this time Jean was getting accustomed to seeing differences. So clear was the white, so heavy were the brown streaks of the under parts. There was a greenish tinge to the sparrowy crown, as the sun shone full upon it. The long tail was a reddish brown, but it was a sparrow tail. “It’s bigger than the tree sparrows,” she whispered to Molly, “and look at the little thing near him. It’s different. I’d like to look again when you are through. If I’m not crazy, it has a pink bill!”
Molly looked at both birds, changing the focus of her glass as the birds moved a little farther away, still feeding. “Now take it, Jean, quick! What do you suppose that little dark thing is? It’s got a black hood and cloak on!”
Jean’s hand was trembling a little as she took again the glass offered by generous Molly. Nothing is more thrilling than discovery. It may not be a discovery which thrills a continent. It may even be something that others have discovered before. But something becomes yours. And just that combination of circumstances may be new. In these years many girls and boys are lending themselves to scientific gains.
Jean was not the only girl who was afraid that the birds would fly before they had seen all there was to be known about them. The glasses went from hand to hand. There was perfect quiet till Miss Haynes herself slipped a little on an icy stone. Another whir of wings, and the birds were off!
“I’m glad that it was you, Miss Haynes, and not us, we, I mean,” said Bess, correcting her own error.
“Yes, I was the guilty one,” laughed Miss Haynes, clutching Fran to regain her footing.
“Oh, Miss Haynes, what were those little dark things, and which birds had the white streaks in the tails when they flew? I was too confused to tell.”
“You are very observant, Jean, I see. Those were the slate-colored juncos, or black snow-birds. They were feeding with the fox sparrows. They have white feathers at the sides of the tail and show them when they fly. Did you think them pretty?”
“I think so!” cried Leigh. “Those pretty pink bills! And they were all white underneath, so it looked as if they had dark hoods and cloaks, the way the dark gray went straight across the breast!”
“That’s just what Molly thought,” said Jean. “I must put down what I’ve seen for fear I’ll get it mixed.”