THE ART OF SEEING THINGS 



"No," said I; "you only want to want to see and 

 hear them." 



You must have the bird in your heart before 

 you can find it in the bush. 



I was sitting in front of a farmhouse one day 

 in company with the local Nimrod. In a maple tree 

 in front of us I saw the great crested flycatcher. I 

 called the hunter's attention to it, and asked him 

 if he had ever seen that bird before. No, he had 

 not; it was a new bird to him. But he probably 

 had seen it scores of times, — seen it without re- 

 garding it. It was not the game he was in quest of, 

 and his eye heeded it not. 



Human and artificial sounds and objects thrust 

 themselves upon us; they are within our sphere, so 

 to speak: but the life of nature we must meet half- 

 way; it is shy, withdrawn, and blends itself with 

 a vast neutral background. We must be initiated; 

 it is an order the secrets of which are well guarded. 



