LEARNING TO FLY 



149 



haps quite unconsciously, and its existence was not in vain. 

 Most of the pity evoked by the natural incidence of death 

 among animals is really a form of egoism. Men are reluc- 

 tant to recognise that their personal views and tastes are not 

 a universal law ; and this intellectual pride is often rein- 

 forced by the objection to face death in nature because it 

 hurts our own feelings. We sometimes read letters in the 

 newspapers demanding the removal of tramps and beggars 

 from the streets, not out of any consideration for the welfare 

 of the vagabonds, but because it is painful to passers-by to 



YOUNG KINGFISHERS 



see them in their wetness and rags. This is simply selfish- 

 ness in a thin veil of philanthropy, and it often finds its 

 counterpart in the attitude of men towards nature. We can- 

 not huddle the forces of death out of sight, as we can the 

 broken men and women on the Thames Embankment ; but 

 we invest them with a sense of horror and injustice which is 

 not truly theirs. 



Such thoughts rise naturally in the heart of the June 

 day, but do not cloud it for any one who has learnt to face 

 them fairly. If the best use of life is in busy activity, as we 

 mostly now hold, young birds, at any rate, do not long waste 

 their time. Day by day the sandpipers follow their parents 



