UNDER APRIL CLOUDS 251 



city sidewalk the next day and smile to him- 

 self at the memory of such high fortune. 



After all, happiness is a good thing. Not 

 so desirable, perhaps, as a great office, or a 

 mint of money, but a pretty good thing, nev- 

 ertheless. It is encouraging, in these days 

 of far-sought pleasures and prodigal expense, 

 to see men get it at a low rate and on inno- 

 cent terms. 



For myself, I think I have never known 

 fox sparrows more plentiful than for the 

 past week. From our human point of view 

 their present migration has been eminently 

 favorable ; from the birds' point of view it 

 has probably been in the highest degree unfa- 

 vorable, the prolonged spell of cloudy and 

 rainy weather having made night flights diffi- 

 cult, not to say impossible. The travelers 

 have been obliged to stay where the storm had 

 caught them, and we, at this intermediate 

 station, have profited by their misfortune. 



On the 7th I stood in the midst of as fine 

 a flock as a man could wish to see. A thick 

 cloud enveloped us ; we might have been on 

 a mountain-top ; but for the minute it had 

 ceased raining, and the birds were in a lively 



