BIRDS AUOUND OUR DWELLINGS. 145 



beautiful as one formed by this wild thicket of vines 

 and bushes, growing at liberty, and wreathing an end- 

 less variety of blossoms and foliage around and over 

 the fence. Then might we hear the notes of the wood- 

 sparrow and the yellow-throat in the very centre of our 

 villages, and hundreds of little birds of different species 

 would cheer us by their warbling, where at present only 

 an occasional solitary one is seen. From the windows 

 of our dwelling-houses we might also observe the habits 

 of many rare birds that would soon acquire an un- 

 wonted familiarity, by having their- abodes in the busy 

 neighborhood of man. 



By thus extending our protection to the birds we 

 make no sacrifice of land, and we lay the foundation ' 

 for certain contrasts, that must affect every beholder 

 with a pleasing emotion. A happy contrast is one of 

 the most striking circumstances either in a landscape 

 or a work of art. Hence rugged hills, rising suddenly 

 out of a level and fertile plain, are more interesting 

 than general undulations of surface ; and how much 

 soever we may admire a tract of land in a high state of 

 improvement, it is delightful while rambling over it to- 

 find a little miniature wilderness, or a plat of ground, 

 covered with the spontaneous productions of nature. 

 It is equally pleasing, on the other hand, when we are 

 roaming a forest, where every thing that grows is wild 

 and primitive, and where the only birds we hear are the 

 shy and timid thrushes and sylvias, to encounter a little- 

 farm in a perfect state of cultivation, and a neat cottage,, 

 surrounded by the familiar birds of our orchards and 

 gardens. These strips of wild vegetation bordering the 

 fences would form a pleasant contrast with the culti- 

 vated lands, and the contrast would be beautiful in pro- 



13, 



