BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



Franklin tells of one occasion when to find the 

 Indians meant life to his party. 



As guides birds have been perhaps of the 

 greatest service at sea. Many a fisherman 

 caught in a dense fog or a blinding storm 

 would have had no idea in which direction to 

 steer his craft had there not also been some 

 feathered fishers out that day ; and no fog was 

 too heavy or storm too black to confuse their 

 sense of direction. No matter how far they 

 had gone out to sea they knew which way to 

 fly to their nests on the shore, and the poor lost 

 human's craft could follow the birds to safety. 



Though in these modern days when mile- 

 stones greet us at every turn and every craft 

 has its compass, we seldom require the services 

 of winged guides, but we need, as the world 

 will always need, the inspiration of their pres- 

 ence and their songs. Few there are who have 

 never gone out into the garden or the orchard 

 or the woods, sad and lonely and discouraged 

 and come back with fresh hope, fresh energy, 

 fresh joy because some tiny songster was pour- 

 ing forth in sweetest notes its message of en- 

 couragement to man. 



Once in a mining country far away among 

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