Ill 



ILS N'ONT QUE DE L'AME 

 AN ESSAY ON BIRD-MIND 



* O Nightingale, thou surely art 

 A creature of a fiery heart.' 



— W. Wordsworth. 



* The inferior animals, when the conditions of life are favour- 

 able, are subject to periodical fits of gladness, affecting them 

 powerfully and standing out in vivid contrast to their ordinary 

 temper. . . . Birds are more subject to this universal joyous 

 instinct than mammals, and ... as they are much freer than 

 mammals, more buoyant and graceful in action, more loquacious, 

 and have voices so much finer, their gladness shows itself in a 

 greater variety of ways, with more regular and beautiful motions, 

 and with melody.' — W. H. Hudson. 



* How do you know but ev'ry Bird that cuts the airy way 



Is an immense world of delight, clos'd by your senses five ? * 



— Blake. 



