FIELD AND STUDY 



Part I: Afieu). 



I 



THE SPRING BIRD PROCESSION 



i 



ONE of the new pleasures or country life when 

 one has made the acquaintance of the birds is 

 to witness the northward bird procession as it passes 

 or tarries with us in the spring — a procession which 

 lasts from April till June and has some new feature 

 daily. 



The migrating wild creatures, whether birds or 

 beasts, always arrest the attention. They seem to link 

 up animal life with the great currents of the globe. 

 It is moving day on a continental scale. It is the 

 call of the primal instinct to increase and multiply, 

 suddenly setting in motion whole tribes and races. 

 The first phcebe-bird, the first song sparrow, the first 

 robin or bluebird in March or early April, is like the 

 first ripple of the rising tide on the shore. 



In my boyhood the vast armies of the passenger 

 pigeons were one of the most notable spring tokens. 

 Often late in March, or early in April, the naked 

 beechwoods would suddenly become blue with 



