AN ORNITHOLOGICAL LECTURE. 101 
is important that you mention whether each bird breeds 
there, passes through spring and autumn, or is only a win- 
ter visitor. 
Perhaps there is no animal in the world that comes near- 
er to man’s heart, and seems more akin, than the bird, be- 
THE PLOVER. 
cause of its beautiful home-life, and the loving care with 
which it anticipates and provides for its brood. There is 
a charm about the nest of a bird that does not linger about 
the hive of the wild bees, the burrow of the woodchuck, 
or the dome of the musk-rat. It is more a home than any 
