238 EARLY AWAKENING 



the reflection of reason. This procedure may be 

 judged, perhaps, a trifling event to notice ; but the 

 ways and motives of creatures are so little under- 

 stood, that any evidence which may assist our re- 

 search should not be rejected. Call their actions 

 as we may, they have the effect of reason ; and 

 loving all the manners and operations of these direct- 

 ed beings, I have noted this, simple as it may be. 



At one period of my life, being an early waker 

 and riser, my attention was frequently drawn " to 

 songs of earliest birds ;" and I always observed 

 that these creatures appeared abroad at very differ- 

 ent periods as the light advanced. The rook is 

 perhaps the first to salute the opening morn ; but 

 this bird seems rather to rest than to sleep. Al- 

 ways vigilant, the least alarm after retirement 

 rouses instantly the whole assemblage, not succes- 

 sively, but collectively. It is appointed to be a 

 ready mover. Its principal food is worms, which 

 feed and crawl upon the humid surface of the 

 ground in the dusk, and retire before the light of 

 day; and, roosting higher than other birds, the 

 first rays of the sun, as they peep^from the horizon, 

 become visible to it. The restless, inquisitive robin 

 now is seen too. This is the last bird that retires 

 in the evening, being frequently flitting about when 

 the owl and bat are visible, and awakes so soon in 

 the morning, that little rest seems required by it. 

 Its fine large eyes are fitted to receive all, even the 



