28o Birds of Oregon and Washington 



gift of song. All these attractions they possess, 

 but they have, too, active habits which invite the 

 attention of even the least curious ; their nest- 

 building, their care of their young, their food 

 habits and their migration ; and more than all, 

 they respond to the sympathetic heart of a 

 human being. 



As a source of happiness, nothing can equal 

 an interest in the birds, except an interest in 

 humanity itself. Especially should country 

 children be introduced to this avenue of true 

 joy, and through it to a love of Nature's infinite 

 variety. It will make the fields, orchards and 

 groves a section of veritable heaven to all those 

 who through the birds get into sympathetic 

 touch with Nature. If teachers and children do 

 not together see and hear and know the birds 

 about them, the life-long loss can be understood 

 only by those who have been led into this beatific 

 world of sympathy and living beauty. 



Then, again, nothing in nature is more closely 

 related to the vast vegetable world, which, next 

 to the birds, furnishes us with the most happi- 

 ness, — the trees, and shrubs, and flowers. The 

 birds are their natural protectors from destruc- 



