48 BIRDHMMONGS. 
us labor more hours daily), neither their first 
nor their last thoughts are given to the ques- 
tion, What shall we eat, and what shall we 
drink? Possibly their habit of saluting the 
rising and setting sun may be thought to favor 
the theory that the worship of the god of day 
was the original religion. I know nothing 
about that. But it would be a sad change if 
the birds, declining from their present beauti- 
ful custom, were to sleep and work, work and 
sleep, with no holy hour between, as is too 
much the case with the being who, according 
to his own pharisaic notion, is the only religious 
animal. 
In the season, however, the woods are by no 
means silent, even at noonday. Many species 
(such as the vireos and warblers, who get their 
living amid the foliage of trees) sing as they 
work ; while the thrushes and others, who keep 
business and pleasure more distinct, are often 
too happy to go many hours together without a 
hymn. I have even seen robins singing without 
quitting the turf ; but that is rather unusual, for 
somehow birds have come to feel that they must 
get away from the ground when the lyrical mood 
is upon them. This may be a thing of sentiment 
(for is not language full of uncomplimentary 
allusions to earth and earthliness ?), but more 
likely it is prudential. The gift of song is no 
