SENTIMENT OF ORNITHOLOGY. 



9 



lirrls 

 rdly 

 iove, 



ce; 

 lory, 

 Sirtls 



the 

 Ithat 



ikes 



rob 



Wordsworth's verses of their birds, how sadly mutilated what re- 

 inuiricd voukl be ! 



But why leave a knowledge of birds to poets and naturalists? Go 

 yourself to the field and learn that birds do not exist solely in books, 

 but are concrete, sentient beings, whose acquaintance may bring you 

 more unalloyed happiness than the wealth of the Indies. John Bur- 

 roughs understands ti.is whe; '.e writes of the study of birds : " There 

 is a fascination about it quite overpowering. It fits so well with other 

 things — with fishin;, hunting, fanning, walking, camping out — with 

 all that takes one to the fields and woods. One may go a blackberry- 

 ing and make some rare discovery; or while driving his cow to pas- 

 ture, hear a new song, or make a new observation. Secrets lurk on all 

 sides. There is news in every bush. What no man ever saw before 

 may the next moment be revealed to you. What a new interest the 

 woods have! How you long to explore every nook and corner of 

 them ! " 



Human friends may pas« beyond our ken. but our list of acquaint- 

 ances in the bird world increases to the end and shows no vacancies. 

 The marsh the Blackbirds loved may become the site of a factory, but 

 no event on the calendar is more certain than that in due time and 

 place we shall hear the tinkling chorus of the epauleted minstrels 

 rising and falling on the crisp morning air. 



" . . . . Time may come wlien never more 

 Tlie wilderness sliall iicar tlie lion roar ; 

 But, lon<j as cock shall erow from liousehold perch 

 To rouse tlie dawn, soft fjales shall speed thy wing, 

 And thy erratic voice be faithful to the spring I" 



The woods of oiir youth may disappear, but the Thrushes will 

 always sing for us, and their voices, endeared by cherished associa- 

 tions, arouse echoes of a hundred songs and awaken memories before 

 which the years will vanish. 



