FREE FOR THE DA Y. 



75 



quired through any course of training? I be- 

 lieve this to be true. 



But, on the other hand, there are those who, 

 though less favored, have their interest aroused 

 whenever out of doors ; and these are spurred 

 to the acquisition of knowledge, however toil- 

 some, because of the demands of that interest. 

 Such find the pursuit of natural knowledge far 

 from easy, but are compensated by the fact that 

 " the play is worth the candle." With due mod- 

 esty, I speak now from experience. 



" How am I to know," asked my friend, "that 

 the bird I see or hear is what it is ? " I, for one, 

 can not solve the problem. Certainly, even if our 

 language was adequate to describe the appear- 

 ance, voice, and habits of a bird, for instance, so 

 accurately that it would instantly be recognized, 

 it is not to be expected that any one, save a pro- 

 fessional naturalist, will know our ornithology by 

 heart ; and even he falls very short of that. In 

 hopes of simplifying the matter, I have been en- 

 deavoring to recall my own experiences ; not that 

 I am a trained observer, but because I can not 

 remember when I did not know the more com- 

 mon objects of wild life that I met with. This 

 knowledge a lifelong source of pleasure was 

 acquired at an early age, probably because I had 

 a naturalist-mother, who correctly explained the 

 little mysteries that perplexed me, and, above all, 



