INTRODUCTION. 



t are all lovers of birds song birds espe- 

 cially. How can we help being so ? They 

 are at once the most lovely, and innocent, and joy- 

 ous of God's creatures. It is good for us to cherish 

 this love healthful to our souls as well as our 

 bodies : 



" To go abroad rejoicing in the joy 

 Of beautiful and well created things, 

 To thrill with the rich melody of birdt, 

 Living in their life of music; 

 To see, and hear, and breathe the evidence 

 Of God's deep wisdom in the natural world." 



"Oh that I had wings like a dove!" said the 

 Psalmist, "for then would I flee away and be at 

 rest," and it does seem that the proper home of the 

 feathered choristers must be in brighter and more 

 peaceful regions than those which are darkened and 

 deformed by earthly passions and desires ; and with 

 this feeling we are inclined to look with indulgence, 

 nay, even with some degree of reverence, upon the 

 superstition of the Indian, who worships his " Wakon 

 Bird," and believes it to be a wanderer from " Happy 

 1* 



