258 BIRD PARADISE 



stitute the sum total of their regular food f For 

 aught we know there are hundreds of delectable 

 things, all nicely prepared and put upon the table 

 of the great tree restaurant. The bird can stroll 

 about and select what he pleases — having new and 

 fresh viands ■ every meal. There are a dozen 

 problems that trouble seriously the many mortals 

 of the human family that never give a particle of 

 unrest to our bird brethren. No defect in their 

 cookery. Servant problem not a part of their 

 history. Fashion, style, cook books, no use for 

 them. Come and go, eat and sleep, romp and 

 play, woodpecker life, and yet I suspect they are 

 not quite satisfied with it. If I mistake not the 

 aspiration to be what they are not is ever their 

 quest, and who shall say how largely the quest is 

 honorable 1 



The flocking together of the birds shows the 

 working of the social instinct and I often fancy, 

 especially in the winter, that the large gatherings 

 further some scheme that seems of common in- 

 terest to the entire species. Take the blue jay, 

 for instance. Yesterday morning I heard their 

 loud calls from Addington's orchard, fifteen or 

 twenty of the blue-coated fellows vieing together 

 in a concourse of blue jay calls that I do not re- 



