BIRD STORIES 



no advice. ^^Poor/' indeed! Why, Bob had a gift that 

 made him fortunate be3^ond the understanding of men. 

 Nature has dealt generously with Man, to be sure, giv- 

 ing him power to build ships for the sea and the air, and 

 trains for the land, whereon he may go, and power to 

 print time-tables to guide the time of travel. But to 

 Bob also, who could do none of these things. Nature 

 had, nevertheless, been generous, and had given him 

 power to go four thousand miles without losing his way, 

 though he had neither chart nor compass. What it 

 would be like to have this gift, Ave can hardly even guess 



— we who get lost in the woods a mile from home, and 

 wander in bewildered circles, not knowing where to turn! 

 We can no more know how Bob found his way than the 

 born-deaf can know the sound of a merry tune, or the 

 born-bhnd can know the look of a sunset sky. Some 

 people think that, besides the five senses given to a man, 

 Nature gave one more to the bobolink — a sixth gift, 

 called a '^ sense of direction. ^^ 



A wonderful gift for a vagabond! To journey hither 

 and yon mth never a fear of being lost! To go forty hun- 

 dred miles and never miss the way! To sail over land 

 and over sea, — over meadow and forest and mountain, 



— and reach the homeland, far south of the Amazon, at 

 just the right time! To travel by starlight as well as by 

 sunshine, without once mistaking the path ! 



182 



