88 USEFUL BIRDS. 



he also sees a value in birds for the opportunity they afford 

 for the culture of the intellect. Every page of the book of 

 nature is educational. But, as Dr. Coues says, there is no 

 fairer or more fascinating page than that devoted to the life 

 history of a bird. The systematic study of birds develops 

 both the observational faculties and the analytical qualities 

 of the mind. The study of the living bird afield is rejuve- 

 nating to both mind and body. The outdoor use of eye, ear, 

 and limb, necessitated by field work, tends to fit both the 

 body and mind of the student for the practical work of life, 

 for it develops both members and faculties. It brings one 

 into contact with nature, — out into the sunlight, where balmy 

 airs stir the whispering pines, or fresh breezes ripple the blue 

 water. There is no purer joy in life than that which may 

 come to all who, rising in the dusk of early morning, wel- 

 come the approach of day with all its bird voices. The nature 

 lover who listens to the song of the Wood Thrush at dawn 

 — an anthem of calm, serene, spiritual joy, sounding through 

 the dim woods — hears it with feelings akin to those of the 

 devotee whose being is thrilled by the grand and sacred music 

 of the sanctuary. And he who, in the still forest at even- 

 ing, barkens to the exquisite notes of the Hermit, — that 

 voice of nature, expressing in sweet cadences her pathos and 

 her ineflFable mystery, — experiences amid the falling shades 

 of night emotions which must humble, chasten, and purify 

 even the most upright and virtuous of men. 



The uplifting influence that birds may thus exert upon the 

 lives of men constitutes to many their greatest value and 

 charm. A growing appreciation of the aesthetic and the edu- 

 cational value of birds has sent many cultured folk to the 

 woods, fields, and shores. People are turning toward nature 

 study, and the observation of birds in the field is one of the 

 most popular manifestations of an increased and abiding in- 

 terest in nature. To the utilitarian this movement has an 

 economic aspect. Students who have become familiar with 

 the common birds of their own vicinity long for new fields 

 and new birds. Let a well-known writer describe in print any 

 locality in Massachusetts where rare or interesting birds are 

 to be found, and soon some of his readers will be upon the 



