46 A THORN-TREE NEST. 



theme. He is branded everywhere as the 

 " butcher-bird," and it seems to be the aim of 

 each writer to discover in his conduct something 

 a little more sanguinary, a shade more depraved, 

 than any predecessor has done. 



Now, if the truth is what we are seeking, is it 

 not desirable to see for ourselves, or, as Emer- 

 son puts it, " leave others' eyes, and bring your 

 own " ? If one can give to the task patient 

 observation, with a loving spirit, a desire to 

 interpret faithfully and to see the best instead 

 of the worst, may he not perchance find that the 

 bird is not the monster he is pictured? And 

 though the story be not so sensational, is it not 

 better to clear up than to blacken the reputation 

 of a fellow-creature, even a very small one in 

 feathers ? 



This thing it had long been in my heart to 

 do, — to see with my own eyes what enormities 

 the beautiful butcher-bird is guilty of. I left 

 hermits and veeries, I said adieu to sandpipers 

 and grosbeaks, and went to the village to abide 

 with the shrike family. No more delightful 

 mornings in the blessed woods ; no more long, 

 dreamy twilights filled with the music of 

 thrushes and the singing brook ; no more 

 charming views of the near Green Mountains, 

 gray in the morning light, glorious rosy purple 

 under the setting sun ; no more solitary com- 



