The Birds and Poets 273 



dents of collecting any one thing, was that ia 

 pursuit of such pastime one casually collected 

 other things. The man who concentrates exclu- 

 sively on dollars collects also vanity, envy, dissatis- 

 faction, a distorted vision, a distempered spirit and 

 ennui! The professional collector of eggs for 

 profit fares but little better, to say nothing of the 

 cruelty and desecration of which he is guilty. 



But all men are, by nature, collectors, whether 

 it be of postage stamps or old armor, or just dollars. 

 The important thing is that the collecting be wisely 

 diverse and that it be done naturally and with an 

 unselfish, open spirit, born of the wholesome long- 

 ing to collect and an innocent joy in the collection, 

 rather than of the selfish wish merely to out-rival 

 some other collector. There is no vanity, jealousy 

 or guile in the heart of the true collector of say, 

 old books, clocks, prints, or of birds' eggs, because 

 his collecting keeps sweet his spirit, renews his 

 youth, stirs his imagination, and prevents his soul 

 from becoming sordid. His mind remains child- 

 like and ingenuous. All the poets have been col- 

 lectors, — (and all true collectors are poets,) — and 

 all of them have loved the birds, and sung about 

 them. 



But to return to the hawks. Although quite a 

 young lad, during this time I climbed many a tall 

 tree, usually sycamore or elm, sometimes to the 

 height of seventy or eighty feet, to secure the eggs 

 of the red-shouldered or red-tailed hawk. The 

 red-shouldered were the most numerous, the red- 



