Song Birds and Water Fowl 
determined. They are allowed no spontaneity 
of place : 
‘** Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes, 
Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech :” 
nor can such a prisoner, hanging in a room, 
with a kalsomined sky, be enhanced by the ef- 
fective contrast of its various kindred, or by 
the foil of surrounding Nature, nor pleasantly 
diversify its own melody by the alternate swell 
and ebb of varying distance. It becomes a 
genuine song only when poured forth as the 
sparkling climax of its wildest freedom. 
But let one walk abroad, in this transition 
period, through sombre Janes and fields, or 
along a country road, and he will listen to a 
story that, however old, is ever new. Froma 
stone wall or bush, close by, he will hear, un- 
doubtedly, the strong, vivacious strain of the 
song-sparrow, which, more than any other bird, 
seems to feel the responsibility as wel] as joy of 
announcing spring’s arrival. <A little farther 
on, a telegraph wire transmits a novel message 
in the contented self-communings and mellow 
meditations of a guileless bluebird, the emblem 
of gentleness in every motion of its soul and 
body. 
278 
