18 BIRDS AND INIAN 



scene a somewhat fairy-like, an almost illusory, 

 character. 



Such scenes live in their loveliness only for him 

 who has seen and harvested them : they cannot be 

 pictured forth to another by words, nor with the 

 painter's brush, though it be charged with tintas 

 orientales ; least of all by photography, which brings 

 all things down to one flat, monotonous, colourless 

 shadow of things, weary to look at. 



From sights we pass to the consideration of 

 sounds, and it is unfortunate that the two subjects 

 have to be treated consecutively instead of together, 

 since with birds they are more intimately joined 

 than in any other order of beings ; and in images 

 of bird life at its best they sometimes cannot be dis- 

 sociated ; — the aerial form of the creature, its 

 harmonious, delicate tints, and its grace of motion ; 

 and the voice, which, loud or low, is aerial too, in 

 harmony with the form. 



We know that as with sights so it is with sounds : 

 those to which we listen attentively, appreciatively, 

 or in any way emotionally, live in the mind, to be 

 recalled and reheard at will. There is no doubt that 

 in a large majority of persons this retentive power 

 is far less strong with regard to sounds than sights, 

 but we are all supposed to have it in some degree. 



