228 THE INVITATION. 



the robin, the blue jay, the bluebird, the yellow-bird, 

 the cherry-bird, the cat-bird, the chipping-bird, the 

 woodpecker, the high-hole, an occasional redbird, and 

 a few others, in the woods, or along their borders, 

 but who ever dreamed that there were still others 

 that not even the hunters saw, and whose names no 

 one had ever heard ? 



When, one summer day, later in life, I took my 

 gun, and went to the woods again, in a different, 

 though, perhaps, a less simple spirit, I found my 

 youthful vision more than realized. There were, in- 

 deed, other birds, plenty of them, singing, nesting, 

 breeding, among the familiar trees, which I had be- 

 fore passed by unheard and unseen. 



It is a surprise that awaits every student of or- 

 nithology, and the thrill of delight that accompanies 

 it, and the feeling of fresh, eager inquiry that follows, 

 can hardly be awakened by any other pursuit. Take 

 the first step in ornithology, procure one new speci- 

 men, and you are ticketed for the whole voyage. 

 There is a fascination about it quite overpowering. 

 It fits so well with other things with fishing, hunt- 

 ing, farming, walking, camping-out with all that 

 takes one to the fields and woods. One may go a 

 blackberrying and make some rare discovery; or 

 while driving his cow to pasture, hear a new song, or 

 make a new observation. Secrets lurk on all sides. 

 There is news in every bush. Expectation is ever 

 on tiptoe. What no man ever saw before may the 

 next moment be revealed to you. What a new in- 



