CHAPTER VI 

 SOUND 



NATURE is full of sounds. If we set ourselves 

 to listen attentively, we can almost always hear 

 some noise in the world around us. Whether 

 by day or night, there is a sound of something 

 moving or something calling. As long as there 

 is any movement of the air, we hear a rustling 

 in the branches or leaves of the trees, a shivering 

 in the grass, or a ripple on the water. Then 

 there are all the noises that men make ; voices 

 talking far or near, carts and carriages moving 

 along the roads, various machines at work ; 

 there is the twittering and singing of birds, the 

 lowing of cattle, the hum of bees and other 

 insects, the barking of dogs ; we can hear end- 

 less sounds in every place we go to. There 

 is no such thing as a quiet day. Nature is 

 much too busy to be quiet, but she is also too 

 busy to allow unnecessary noise, and every 

 sound we hear has its reason and should tell 

 us something. Even at night a country-side 

 is hardly ever quiet ; there are many creatures 

 which seek their food by night, and others which 

 call to each other only after the sun has set. 



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