Impressions 



ion, we can, at least, logically conclude that 

 they were expressing their satisfaction because 

 March winds were no longer blowing, and this, 

 in a way, is a message from April to them, and 

 indirectly to myself; so my first impression 

 was not very wrong. As in many another 

 case, we can approach the truth, but never quite 

 reach it. All that a bird's song signifies we do 

 not know, although books have been written on 

 this single subject. 



Even if silent, which is rarely the case, a flock 

 of purple grakles, or "crow blackbirds " as they 

 are generally called, means a great deal to the 

 rambler. The sky has long been only an empty 

 space, but these birds fill most acceptably the 

 aching void that lias been vexing us. To-day, 

 as I looked and listened, I dropped from the 

 contemplation of music to mathematics, and 

 man can take no longer leap. The number of 

 birds in the flock roused my curiosity, but their 

 restlessness made even a crude estimate im- 

 practicable. When I thought I had them all in 

 the field of vision, a hundred or more would be 

 added. It is safe to say that there were more 

 than a thousand. Think of that, and every bird 

 chattering his loudest. How like a crowded 



49 



