Phillips] BURROUGHS NATURE CLUB 155 



'All day thy wings have fanned, 

 At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere 

 Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, 

 Though the dark night is near.' " 



Annie Schoenfeld, 4B1 

 Oct. 22, 1914. 



(This girl was thirteen years old and had been a year and a 

 half in America when she wrote this composition.) 

 Here is another composition. 



"A Springtime Message of the Woods. 



'Those who praise themselves the most 



Oft deserve the least, I think; 

 Truly great birds never boast 



Of their greatness, bobolink . ' 



"I think it is a very pleasant thing to go through the woods on 

 an April day. If you cannot have this opporunity, you may 

 read this little message that I bring to you. 



"In the springtime you see the buds bursting forth, and the 

 air feels balmy; the stimulating odors are indescribable and the 

 sounds are most refreshing to the ear. The grass is green and the 

 ground is soft and brown. As you walk, you hear the piping of 

 the frogs among the marshes, the barking of the dog, the lowing 

 of the cow, and the morning song of the lark, robin, and, best of 

 all, the bobolink and the mocking bird of which I am about to 

 tell you. 



' ' There is one we love who is very similar to the bird and that 

 is the poet. His songs come from his heart, and, when he builds 

 a home in which to live, he makes it snug and safe. There was 

 once a poet who was very ill and had to go to the country. 

 When he was about to leave, he was very sad because he was go- 

 ing to leave his friends and he thought he would be very lonesome. 

 When he came to his home in the woods it was different from 

 what he expected. Beside his cottage was a tree with a lark in 

 it, and every morning he would comfort the poet with a beauti- 

 ful song. He saw how the bluebird built his nest in the apple 

 tree, and learned the habits of many other birds and found out 

 that birds are the same everywhere. He was never sad with so 

 many little friends about him. 



The bobolink is one of the most beautiful songsters. He 

 sings differently from any other bird. His voice is like clear 

 mountain air and as sweet as spring water. He has a distinct 

 enunciation and seems to say 'Be true to me.' The bobolink is 

 the only ground bird of conspicuous plumage. He is also the 

 only black and white field bird east of the Mississippi River. He 

 is unique in the way he changes his colors. 



