yi PREFACE. 



ery ; that part of it which is akin to hunt- 

 ing, fishing, and wild sports, and which I 

 could carry with me in my eye and ear 

 wherever I went. 



I cannot answer with much confidence the 

 poet's inquiry, 



"Hast thou named all the birds without a gun ? " 



but I have done what I could to bring 

 home the "earth and the sky" with the 

 sparrow I heard "singing at dawn on the 

 alder bough." In other words, I have tried 

 to present a live bird, a bird in the woods 

 or the fields, with the atmosphere and 

 associations of the place, and not merely a 

 stuffed and labelled specimen. 



A more specific title for the volume would 

 have suited me better, but not being able to 

 satisfy myself in this direction, I cast about 

 for a word thoroughly in the atmosphere 

 and spirit of the book, which I hope I have 

 found in " Wake-Robin," the common 

 name of the white Trillium, which blooms 

 in all our woods, and which marks the arri- 

 val of all the birds. * 



