202 WAKE-ROBIN 
still others that not even the hunters saw, and 
whose names no one had ever heard? 
When, one summer day, later in life, I took my 
gun and went to the woods again, in a different 
though perhaps a less simple spirit, I found my 
youthful vision more than realized. There were, 
indeed, other birds, plenty of them, singing, nest- 
ing, breeding, among the familiar trees, which I 
had before passed by unheard and unseen. 
It is a surprise that awaits every student of orni- 
thology, and the thrill of delight that accompanies 
it, and the feeling of fresh, eager inquiry that fol- 
lows, can hardly be awakened by any other pursuit. 
Take the first step in ornithology, procure one new 
specimen, and you are ticketed for the whole voy- 
age. There is a fascination about it quite overpow- 
ering. It fits so well with other things, — with 
fishing, hunting, farming, walking, camping-out, — 
with all that takes one to the fields and woods. 
One may go a blackberrying and make some rare dis- 
covery; or, while driving his cow to pasture, hear a 
new song, or make a new observation. Secrets lurk 
on all sides. There is news in every bush. Ex- 
pectation is ever on tiptoe. What no man ever 
saw before may the next moment be revealed to 
you. What a new interest the woods have! How 
you long to explore every nook and corner of them! 
You would even find consolation in being lost in 
them. You could then hear the night birds and 
the owls, and, in your wanderings, might stumble 
upon some unknown specimen. 
