204 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



fringilline pensioners would keep him company. 

 'And the wren would be there, searching diligently 

 in the dusty angles of cornices for a savoury 

 morsel ; for it knows, this wise little Kitty Wren, 

 that "the spider taketh hold with her hands, and 

 is in king's palaces"; and wandering from room 

 to room it would pour forth many a gushing lyric 

 — a sound of wildness and joy in our still in- 

 teriors, eternal Nature's message to our hearts. 



Who delights not in a bird? Yet how few 

 among us find any pleasure in reading of them 

 in natural history books ! The living bird, viewed 

 closely and fearless of our presence, is so much 

 more to the mind than all that is written — so in- 

 finitely more engaging in its spontaneous gladness, 

 its brilliant vivacity, and its motions so swift and 

 true and yet so graceful 1 Even leaving out the 

 melody, what a charm it would add to our homes 

 if birds were permitted to take the part there for 

 which Nature designed them — if they were the 

 "winged wardens" of our gardens and houses as 

 well as of our fields. Bird-biographies are al- 

 ways in our bookcases; and the bird-form meets 

 our sight everywhere in decorative art Eastern 

 and Western; for its aerial beauty is without 



