76 STL VAN SECRETS. 



at the extreme southern end of their migra- 

 tion. I have noted that along the gulf -coast 

 of Mississippi and Louisiana the non-resident 

 mocking-birds, when they first come in from 

 farther south, are noisily communicative of 

 their ecstatic pleasure. For a few days they 

 make the groves ring with their songs, then 

 pass on farther north, many of them finally 

 reaching Tennessee, some going over the 

 mountains to Kentucky, and a few touching 

 with a light spray of melody the southern- 

 most knobs of Ohio and Indiana. I might 

 easily mass a large sum of facts going to show 

 that no one desire or instinctive emotion is 

 the sole cause of bird-song. That the tender 

 passion engenders lyrical fervor and makes a 

 feathered troubadour of the gay sylvan lover 

 there can be no doubt, but love is not always 

 at the root of the lay. The song-bird is a 

 gourmand of the most pronounced type, and 

 we find him going into a rapture of sweet 

 sounds over a feast of insects or fruit. He 

 enjoys bright colors, too, so that he is always 

 hilarious when he finds himself in the midst 

 of green leaves and beautiful bloom-sprays. 

 A haw-bush or wild apple-tree in full flower 

 often is the inspiration of the brown thrush 

 and the cat-bird. In a certain way, indeed, 

 the birds are true poets, singing forth the in- 

 fluence of their environments just as Burns 

 sang his, just as Millet painted his. I do not 

 mean to be fanciful in this regard. Call it in- 

 stinct, as it is, and say that birds do not 

 reason, which is true ; but add, nevertheless, 

 the indisputable fact that instinct is of kin to 

 genius, in that it has its origin (as genius has 

 its) in the simplest and purest elements of 

 nature, and so you will get my meaning. 

 It is impossible to know, with any degree 



