104: IN THE DAYS OF AUDUBON 



kings," said Victor. " So you have told me the old Knitter 

 of Nantes said, when you were a boy in France." 



That evening they studied the habits of a captive night- 

 bird together, of a lone wanderer in the dark. The bird 

 seized the wicker in its bill and tried to free its wings. A 

 tremor would come over him when it found itself baffled. 



" Why does it shudder its wings? " asked the boy. 



" Why would you shrug your shoulders were you a 

 captive among Indians, and thought of freedom, your 

 mother, and the fireside and lamplight? It is the human 

 in the bird." 



A night bird flew by and cried. The captive shuddered 

 again. So they studied the instincts of the bird, and talked, 

 long into the night, of the habits of the night pilgrim of 

 the air. These studies made Victor a naturalist. 



