mixture, as unreal and half done as the rest of 

 the creature. But we should not be so hasty in 

 our judgment. There is design in all things in 

 nature ; utility is the first law of creation : and 

 the discovery of plan and purpose is the highest 

 appreciation of beauty. 



The whippoorwill's dress must be criticized 

 from the view-point of its usefulness to the bird j 

 then it becomes one of the most exquisitely 

 artistic garments worn. Compare it with that 

 of any other bird ; and your wonder at it grows. 

 Another such blending of light and shadow can- 

 not be found. The night herself seems to have 

 woven this robe out of warp from the strands of 

 early dawn and of woof spun from the twilight. 



The whippoorwill cannot change the color of 

 its dress with the passing clouds, nor match it 

 with the light green of unfolding leaves and the 

 deep bronze of old tree-trunks, as the chameleon 

 can. But the bird has no need of such control. 

 It is always in harmony with its surroundings. 

 In the falling twilight it seems a shadow among 

 the shadows ; in the breaking dawn it melts into 

 the gray half-light, a phantom ; at midnight it is 

 only an echo in the dark ; and at noontime you 

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