Songs of the Fields 



bird of Oninij^otence. It was a dove that carried 

 the news of release to the prisoners in tlie ark. and 

 it was in the ft)rni of a dove that the Spirit of The Bird 

 God is said to have materiahzed and hovered over °* ^"'^ 

 the head of Jesus when He ^\'as bai)tized in tlie 

 Jordan. What otlier l)ird bears honors high as 

 these? Yet doves home in tlie thicket, on a few 

 rough tM'igs they place their pearly, opalescent 

 eggs, and in trembling anxiety brood and raise a 

 pair of yoimg that go modestly and lovingly 

 through life, exactly the same as their parents. 

 Nowhere else in all nature does the softly-uttered 

 coo of a dove so harmonize with the environment 

 as over a stream in a thicket; and no accompani- 

 ment to the murmuring voice of the Ivimberlost is 

 quite so melodious as the love-song of this bird. 



The thicket seems a natural home for almost 

 every feathered creature. This because there are 

 trees, bushes, and shndis, with their berries, nuts, 

 and fruits; vines and weeds bearing seed; every 

 variety of insect and worm, and water with its sup- 

 ply of food, thus providing things to eat in a small 

 space for almost every species. In spring and sum- 

 mer the birds have full sway; but in the fall, after 

 the first black frost, come rugged country boys 

 and girls and village children in search of fruit 

 and nuts. 



To some there is nothing so delicious as the 

 black haw — white until almost ripe, then a day of 



•297 



