36 BIRDS, BEASTS, AND FISHES 



vast flocks will break forth into cries of delight, encouraging 

 each other, and mounting higher into the air, so that they 

 may get sight of the promised land, which they hail with a 

 psean of exultation. 



Still, though the shore and safety be within their 

 grasp, some of the weak and feeble of mind or body will, 

 weary unto death, sink down and alight on the sea — the 

 treacherous sea, that swallows them up within sight of the 

 dunes. Mavises and larks are prone to give up on the eve 

 of victory ; but even some of these laggards, at the wet touch 

 of the ocean, struggle up on tired wings and struggle to the 

 shore, swimming down the blue air, dazed and drunk with 

 fatigue, to the dry warm sands — safe, and forgetful of those 

 who have perished. And amongst them will be found our 

 brave little herring-spink — the coy, tame little bird — that 

 emblem of bravery. The weak in heart should take the 

 goldcrest as his guiding star, and the augury of birds might 

 be of living worth to him. 



