AS FREE AS A BIRD. 



EV^ERY good thing in the world must be earned. 

 A bird would have less care and fewer moments 

 of anxiety if it lived in a cage, if it were sheltered in 

 stormy times, protected from enemies, and provided 

 with food. But the bird prefers, as you would, I hope, 

 to run the dangers of a free life for the sake of its 

 pleasures. 



In ordinary seasons, and for the greater part of the 

 year, these pleasures are many. Chief among them 

 in the case of many birds must be the joy of having 

 wings. When an Ovenbird mounts high in air, and 

 then, closing his wings, shoots down a hundred feet 

 or more, it seems as if he must enjoy the rush of the 

 air and the speed of his flight. 



Hawks often soar in great curves, hardly moving 

 their wings, but rising on the up-current of air, till 

 they seem mere specks in the blue sky. They do this 

 with no apparent purpose, but as if it were a sport. 

 Some of the water birds — the Gannets, for instance 

 — have such powerful wings that the fiercest winds 

 cannot drive them out of their course ; they circle 

 about in tremendous storms as if they enjoyed the 

 wild scene. 



