November 



The stream of ornithological pleasure flows 

 more evenly through the whole year than the 

 uninitiated would imagine ; for one winter- 

 bird counts for ten in summer, rarity in grati- 

 fication carries its own compensation of inten- 

 sity, and a constant quantity the year round 

 one always cherishes the exhilarating expec- 

 tancy of the unexpected. 



Variety is not half so essential a spice of life 

 as expectancy. Indeed, from the cradle to the 

 grave anticipation is more than a spice, it is a 

 large part of the very subsistence of life. We 

 all live more in the fairer to-morrow than in 

 to-day, and find more exhilaration in reaching 

 forth for new fruit, than in enjoying the fruit 

 in hand in casting the fly, than in counting 

 the fish in the basket. One of the best things 

 to l)e said about immortality is, that it means 

 a future never drawn upon. 



297 



