Esthetic and Moral Reasons 117 



noonday vanishes as a stately heron flaps across 

 the stagnant water and silently joins our vigil. 

 In the afternoon among the flower-beds the soft 

 purr of a humming-bird's motor causes us to 

 smile as we realize that we are not alone in the 

 garden. In the dusk of evening the call of the 

 soft-voiced, invisible whippoorwill adds charm- 

 ing mystery to the gathering shadows of the 

 roadside; and the glories of a winter night in 

 the big woods are not complete without the 

 deep-toned hooting of an owl to speak of the 

 majesty of solitude. By the wonderful and 

 V delightful feeling of companionship which they 

 create, birds lure us into the open away from 

 the cities, into the woods and fields and beside 

 the rivers and the ocean beach, where the air 

 and sunlight are pure and full of health and 

 life. And perhaps, after all, this is just as im- 

 portant as keeping the beetles out of the potato 

 patch. 



So it would seem that all but particularly 

 stupid or particularly thoughtless persons must 

 be interested in birds entirely apart from their 

 economic value, and to many they are the source 

 of the greatest joy in life. Even primitive 

 peoples have been deeply impressed by the 

 remarkable forms and colors of birds; by their 

 tranquil songs, their thrilling cries, and their 



