ESTHETIC RELATIONS OF BIRDS. 13 



ist I have ever met has convincingly illustrated. I could 

 name neai'lj a dozen, living and dead, whom it has been 

 my valued privilege to know. All had passed the allotted 

 threescore and ten, and some were over fourscore. The 

 friends and associates of their earlier days had passed 

 away, and one might imagine that they had no interest 

 in life and were simply waiting for the end. 



But these veterans were old in years only. Their 

 hearts were young. The earth was fair ; plants still 

 bloomed, and birds sang for them. There was no idle 

 waiting here ; the days were all too short. With what 

 boyish ardor they told of some recent discovery ; what 

 inspiration there was in their enthusiasm ! 



So I say to you, if you would reap the purest pleas- 

 ures of youth, manhood, and old age, go to the birds and 

 through them be brought within the ennobling inHuences 

 of Nature. 



