308 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
WILD GEESE 
A far, strange sound through the night, 
A dauntless and resolute cry, 
Clear in the tempest’s despite, 
Ringing so wild and so high. 
Darkness and tumult and dread, 
Rain and the battling of gales, 
Yet cleaving the storm overhead, 
The wedge of the Wild Geese sails. 
Pushing their perilous way, 
Buffeted, beaten, and vexed ; 
Steadfast by night and by day, 
Weary, but never perplexed ; 
Sure that the land of their hope 
Waits beyond tempest and dread, 
Sure that the dark where they grope 
Shall glow with the morning red! 
O birds in the wild, wild sky! 
Would I could so follow God’s way 
Through darkness, unquestioning why, 
With only one thought to obey! 
— CELIA THAXTER. 
NeEst-BuILDING 
“Though a few of our common birds, like the Robin, 
Bluebird, Woodcock, Crow, Grackle, and some of the 
Hawks and Owls, begin to nest in April, May and June are 
the real nesting months. 
“When the spring migration is over, we call those birds 
who have decided to stay with us and build their homes 
