BIRDS OF SONG. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



He sang of birds, the beautiful, the free, 

 The sportive creatures ; happy in their lives 

 Of sunshine and of shade the birds that dwell 

 In woodland depths, and on the grassy lawn, 

 And where the sun and shade make playful strife, 

 And wild flowers hide within the bosky dell. 



OF all the many objects which a beneficent God has 

 created, to adorn the earth, and minister to the wants and 

 pleasures of man, Birds, we think, may be considered as the 

 most beautiful and interesting. It is true that there is not 

 a single member of the great world of animated nature but 

 has in it much to excite our admiration and wonder : in its 

 internal structure its outward adornments its uses and 

 adaptations we see such evident proofs of superhuman skill 

 and wisdom such plain indications of benevolent design 

 that we must be dull and insensible indeed if we do not 

 at once acknowledge that ' the Hand that made it ' is, in 

 truth, * divine.' 



But it is by Birds especially that our faculties of observa- 

 tion, and our powers of reflection, are stimulated and called 

 into play. Everywhere, and every hour, we see and hear 

 them ; we cannot, if we would, help doing so : they flit 

 before us and around us, exhibiting the most exquisite 



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