Music of the Wild 



widely-spreading branches the wind sang in louder 

 cadence than where limbs were more closely placed 

 and of heavier leafage. 



There were maples of even greater circumfer- 

 ence and height, but many of them leaned and 

 twisted. Their bark was not so beautiful, and 

 their leaves not of such fine texture, but they were 

 more artistically cut; and as these trees flourished 

 and grew old in this damp place, the lichens had 

 covered them almost entirely, and so they were gay 

 with gray and green. It is peculiar how in the 

 forest one thing seems to lead to or bear some re- 

 lation to another. In examining the maples to see 

 how far out the large branches the lichens ex- 

 tended, I noticed what I easily might have mis- 

 taken for a knot-hole if previous experience had 

 not taught me to recognize the nest of the dis- 

 tinctive bird of the forest; a nest that is a miracle, 

 from which come birds to match it, and they sing 

 a song that all ornithologists agree almost breaks 

 the heart with its sadness. 



The professional "wailer" of the forest is the 



wood pewee; and I should like to engage him to 



A Pro- "wail" at my funeral, I would ask rfo finer music. 



1 Waiter*' He is J ust a sma11 olive-gray bird, touched with 



brown, his habitat high among the big crows, owls, 



and hawks, that comparatively must appear larger 



to him than an elephant does to us. Because he 



is evolved in God's great scheme of things to work 



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