260 THE INVITATION. 



co very ; or while driving his cow to pasture 

 hear a new song, or make a new observation. 

 Secrets lurk on all sides. There is news in 

 every bush. Expectation is ever on tiptoe. 

 What no man ever saw before may the next 

 moment be revealed to you. What a new 

 interest the woods have ! How you long to 

 explore every nook and corner of them ! 

 You would even find consolation in being 

 lost in them. You could then hear the night 

 birds and the owls, and in your wanderings, 

 might stumble upon some unknown speci- 

 men. 



In all excursions to the woods or to the 

 shore, the student of ornithology has an ad- 

 vantage over his companions. He has one 

 more resource, one more avenue of delight. 

 He indeed kills two birds with one stone, 

 and sometimes three. If others wander, he 

 can never go out of his way. His game is 

 everywhere. The cawing of a crow makes 

 him feel at home, while a new note or a new 

 song drowns all care. Audubon, on the des- 

 olate coast of Labrador, is happier than any 

 king ever was, and on shipboard is nearly 

 cured of his sea-sickness when a new gull 

 appears in sight. 



One must taste it to understand or ap- 



