264 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



soon. It is a consolation to think that they are 

 not my pets; that I shall not grieve, like their 

 mistress, when their brief barking period is over; 

 that I care just so much and no more for them 

 than for any other living creature, not excepting 

 the fer-de-lance, "quoiled in the path like rope in 

 a ship," or the broad-winged vulture "scaling the 

 heavens by invisible stairs." None are out of 

 place where Nature placed them, nor unbeautiful; 

 none are unlovable, since their various qualities — 

 the rage of the one and the gentleness of the other 

 — are but harmonious lights and shades in the 

 ever-'changing living picture that is so perfect. 



