November 



The stream of ornithological pleasure flows 

 more evenly through the whole year than the 

 uninitiated would imagine ; for one winter- 

 bird counts for ten in summer, rarity in grati- 

 fication carries its own compensation of inten- 

 sity, and — a constant quantity the year round 

 — one always cherishes the exhilarating expec- 

 tancy of the unexpected. 



Variety is not half so essential a spice of life 

 as expectancy. Indeed, from the cradle to the 

 grave anticipation is more than a spice, it is a 

 large part of the very subsistence of life. We 

 all live more in the fairer to-morrow than in 

 to-day, and find more exhilaration in reaching 

 forth for new fruit, than in enjoying the fruit 

 in hand — in casting the fly, than in counting 

 the fish in the basket. One of the best things 

 to be said about immortality is, that it means 

 a future never drawn upon. 



297 



