44 THE JONATHAN PAPERS 



the mongoose, &quot;Run and find out&quot; an 

 excellent motto for a mongoose, but for 

 people on a spring ramble ! 



The unquenchable ardor of the bird lover, 

 so called, fills me with dismay. One enthus 

 iast, writing in a school journal, describes the 

 difficulties of following up the birds: &quot;Often 

 eyes all around one s head, with opera-glasses 

 focused at each pair, would not suffice to keep 

 the restless birds in view.&quot; If this is the ideal 

 of the bird lover, it is not mine. I wonder she 

 did not wish for extra pairs of legs to match 

 each set of eyes and opera-glasses, and a divis 

 ible body, so that she might scamper off in 

 sections after all these marvels. For myself, 

 one pair of eyes gives me, I find, all the satis 

 faction and delight I know what to do with, 

 and I cannot help feeling that, if I had more, I 

 should have less. The same writer speaks of 

 the &quot;maddening&quot; warbler notes. Why mad 

 dening? Because, forsooth, there are thirty 

 warblers, and one cannot learn all their 

 names. What a pity to be maddened by a little 

 warbler! And about a matter of names, too. 

 After all, the bird, the song, is the thing. And 

 it seems a pity to carry the chasing of bird 



