The Changeful Skies 29 



drop to the earth, as is shown by water-birds 

 being found upon our upland fields, perhaps 

 miles from their accustomed haunts. 



Whatever the time of year, we have ex- 

 cellent reasons for expelling much of the 

 sky, and should not let our eagerness to see 

 the objedls there from close at hand cause us 

 to forget from whence they came. Do not 

 tell me that a bird, or a butterfly, or even an 

 inanimate objeft, is but a wind-tossed acci- 

 dent. Do I not know it ? If an objeft is 

 seen to come from the sky above, why not 

 at least endeavor to meet it in mid-air ? By 

 so doing, you take a step into the realms of 

 fancy. Such a whim deceives no one, not 

 even the self-ele&ed professors of bird-lore. 

 Some fafts without fancy are as repulsive as 

 birds without feathers, and the world is not 

 likely to suffer because of other views than 

 those of the painfully prosaic. Dispute this 

 if you will ; but now 



" There is a light cloud by the moon, 

 'Tis passing, and 'twill pass full soon," 



and to it I would rather attend than listen to 

 any argument. 



