(Braes (6 Green 



ing or ill-natured fretting aimed at the world at 

 large, but no bird seems to pay any attention to it. 



Where do these birds find the snake skins that 

 adorn their nests ? A shed skin is not a common 

 object, likely to be seen in our rambles. I have 

 found very few of them ; yet until recently I never 

 found the nest of this bird without one or more. 

 What sharp eyes the birds must have, or do they 

 know just where to look ? Then again, why do 

 they use them ? If we could only go back a few 

 thousands of years and see what bird-life was in 

 pre-glacial times, what a flood of light would be 

 thrown on the bird-mysteries of to-day. Probably 

 a good deal that we notice now is but survivals of 

 habits that had meaning when they originated; 

 just as there are many such survivals in human 

 customs. 



Having dropped out of the procession and not 

 likely soon to rejoin it, now that I was so comfort- 

 ably fixed, I fell to wondering what was the most 

 interesting form of life that I had seen; and a 

 more unprofitable subject never engaged attention. 

 To him or her who knows how to ramble, how to 

 see, how to interpret, this making of distinctions 

 between one form and another, this having prefer- 

 ences which lead to prejudice, will not occur. The 

 insect that slowly crawls across your sleeve may 

 be to many but a mere speck, but look at it 

 through a good lens and what a marvel of beauty 

 and intricate anatomy it proves to be ! 

 in 



