n PREFACE. 



I cannot answer with much confidence the poet*8 

 inquiry, 



" Hast thou named all the birds without a gun ? " 



but I have done what I could to bring home the 

 ^ earth and the sky " with the sparrow I heard " sing- 

 ing at dawn on the alder bough." In other words, 

 I have tried to present a live bird, — a bird in the 

 woods or the fields, — with the atmosphere and asso- 

 ciations of the place, and not merely a stuffed and 

 labeled specimen. 



A more specific title for the volume would have 

 suited me better, but not being able to satisfy myself 

 in this direction, I cast about for a word thoroughly 

 in the atmosphere and spirit of the book, which I 

 hope I have found in " Wake-Robin" — the common 

 name of the white Trillium, which blooms in all oui 

 woods, and which marks the arrival of all the birds. 



