90 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



river ? Some of them were so sweet and sad 

 that the old longing to be a boy again, free 

 from care and anxiety, seized me in its grip. 

 I had never before heard music that went so 

 deep into my soul. 



But at the time I could not discover the 

 name of the singers, so ignorant was I of birds, 

 and it was some time afterward — months, if I 

 remember correctly — before I knew that the 

 song sparrows were the trillers that had stirred 

 such a sudden and intense love for birds in 

 my heart. That w^as the day of my awaken- 

 ing, my new birth. Before that I had been 

 asleep, so far as the birds were concerned. 

 With some trouble I procured a bird manual 

 and began my avian studies in earnest, and 

 ever since they have been a source of unfailing 

 delight. 



My own ignorance seems to be shared by 

 many others. I am reminded of an incident 

 that illustrates this fact. One day in autumn, 

 while walking with an old farmer friend across 

 the small hollow that lay between his house 

 and barn, I called his attention to the pleasing 

 trills of the song sparrows. His reply was 

 that every one of these birds ought to be 

 killed ; that it had been a great blunder to in- 

 troduce them into this country ; that they were 



