204 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



fringilline pensioners would keep him company. 

 'And the wren would be there, searching diligently 

 in the dusty angles of cornices for a savoury 

 morsel ; for it knows, this wise little Kitty Wren, 

 that "the spider taketh hold with her hands, and 

 is in king's palaces' 1 ; and wandering from room 

 to room it would pour forth many a gushing lyric 

 a sound of wildness and joy in our still in- 

 teriors, eternal Nature's message to our hearts. 



Who delights not in a bird? Yet how few 

 among us find any pleasure in reading of them 

 in natural history books ! The living bird, viewed 

 closely and fearless of our presence, is so much 

 more to the mind than all that is written so in- 

 finitely more engaging in its spontaneous gladness, 

 its brilliant vivacity, and its motions so swift and 

 true and yet so graceful! Even leaving out the 

 melody, what a charm it would add to our homes 

 if birds were permitted to take the part there for 

 which Nature designed them if they were the 

 "winged wardens" of our gardens and houses as 

 well as of our fields. Bird-biographies are al- 

 ways in our bookcases; and the bird-form meets 

 our sight everywhere in decorative art Eastern 

 and Western; for its aerial beauty is without 



