THE EUROPEAN JOURNALS 



241 



native land, and the air vibrates with the songs of the 

 sweet birds. 



April 25. I went out of the house pretty soon this morn- 

 ing; it was cold and blowing a strong breeze. I pushed 

 towards the river with an idea of following it downwards 

 two hours by my watch, but as I walked along I saw a 

 large flock of Starlings, at a time when I thought all birds 

 were paired, and watched their motions for some time, and 

 thereby drew the following conclusion, namely: that the 

 bird commonly called the Meadow Lark with us is more 

 nearly re'.ated to the Starling of this country than to any 

 other bird. I was particularly surprised that a low note, re- 

 sembling the noise made by a wheel not well greased, was 

 precisely the same in both, that the style of their walk and 

 gait was also precisely alike, and that in short flights the 

 movement of the wings had the same tremulous action 

 before they alighted. Later I had visitors to see my pict- 

 ures, possibly fifty or more. It has rained and snowed 

 to-day, and I feel as dull as a Martin surprised by the 

 weather. It will be strange if York gives me no sub- 

 scribers, when I had eight at Newcastle. Mr. P called 



and told me it would be well for me to call personally on 

 the nobility and gentry in the neighborhood and take 

 some drawings with me. I thanked him, but told him 

 that my standing in society did not admit of such conduct, 

 and that although there were lords in England, we of 

 American blood think ourselves their equals. He laughed, 

 and said I was not as much of a Frenchman as I looked. 



April 26. I have just returned from a long walk out of 

 town, on the road toward Newcastle. The evening was 

 calm, and the sunset clear. At such an hour how often have 

 I walked with my Lucy along the banks of the Schuylkill, 

 Perkiomen Creek, the Ohio River, or through the fra- 

 grant woods of Louisiana; how often have we stopped 

 short to admire the works of the Creator ; how often have 

 we been delighted at hearing the musical notes of the timid 



VOL. I. — 16 



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