Vv$( '^^^ spirit of spring is in the 

 N^l air* Not the hopefully delusive 



promise so often overshadowed 

 by delays and disappointments, but the real spirit 

 that breathes life to all animated Nature, There 

 is something universally contagious in the awaken- 

 ing of Nature, The piping call of a Robin, or 

 even the silent opening of a bud, awakens the 

 insistent thrill of fellowship in the mystery of 

 life. The solitary messengers of a week ago have 

 been followed by advancing flocks, and some have 

 already assumed their old aspect of familiarity, 

 Robins are hurrying up the valleys and over the 

 adjacent hills, active and energetic, but obdurately 

 silent. Fences, trees, and shrubbery, roads, lanes, 

 and open fields — every available resting place is 

 tried in impatient succession, but through the 

 active communal life of the new arrivals there is an 

 uneasy suspicion of human intruders. The com- 

 munism of the gathering flocks will soon be lost in 



17 B 



