BIRD PARADISE 239 



fellows are left to themselves they manage to fill 

 up the pages of their daily life with some of the 

 best of bird experience. There is no other bird of 

 my acquaintance that carries about with him 

 cleaner thought and action. I say thought. 

 Surely what is it if it be not thought ? I have 

 watched them often when they were unaware of 

 my presence and the movements they made be- 

 tokened thought, or at least what we call thought 

 in man. The process by which the old birds 

 warn their young of approaching danger and the 

 methods they take to lead the enemy in a counter 

 direction all show a kind of reasoning that is near 

 enough genuine to be the article itself. I think 

 partridge loves the snow. His suit of winter 

 clothing is every way admirable for the season. 

 It is so woven that it keeps dry even in the days 

 and nights of driving rain. Impervious to the 

 cold and easily kept clean, though worn months 

 without washing, he seems to be in perfect order 

 for all kinds of weather. The buds on the trees 

 supply him with food, while the pure white snow 

 furnishes a warm cozy bed that is always ready 

 for use. What a book such a house could issue 

 if it had the means of publishing well in hand — 

 rather, what a book it does issue, and how 

 cheerily it reads to him who understands. 



