^i8 BIRD PARADISE 



made with hands, chickadee himself the text, and 

 the message — the entire discourse a living breath 

 from the courts above. 



On that one bright, clear morning of last week 

 I noticed the birds were unusually lively. I saw 

 them in my orchard and lawn tree and heard them 

 from the trees in the park. Blue jay was promi- 

 nent in sending out his call, not only in the fre- 

 quent repetition but in its far-reaching power. 

 Chickadee's mild-mannered speech was entirely 

 in keeping with the bland character of the morn- 

 ing. Two or three crows flying over said their 

 say, and while it did not fit in very perfectly with 

 the cheery oflfering of the day it was no doubt the 

 best they could do. A little company of nut- 

 hatches were busy in the maples near the church 

 door, their soft voices blending nicely with the 

 mild temperature of the morning. A downy 

 woodpecker balanced in a friendly way on the 

 limb a few feet from my study window as 

 though he was an ambassador of peace from the 

 great realm of the weather. Down in the pasture 

 the goldfinches were breakfasting on the seeds of 

 the weeds just at the fence side. I could hear 

 4;heir cheery call and occasionally see them flit- 



