Song Birds and Water Fowl 



Although they are mostly the plainer sorts, and, 

 except the chickadee, entirely songless, I think 

 the winter species, after all, as parables of hope, 

 light-heartedness, and trust, come more closely 

 home to us, with their quiet lessons of encour- 

 agement and reproof, than all the gayer and 

 more tuneful throng that are wafted hither on 

 spring's glad wings, and luxuriate amid the 

 bloom and balmy airs of May and June. 



The supposed inferiority of water fowl in re- 

 spect of plumage calls for a word of correction. 

 So far as the more brilliant effects are concerned, 

 it is true that there are few of the aquatic spe- 

 cies that can rival many of the showy tanagers, 

 finches, and warblers ; even as the sea itself is 

 colorless and sombre in comparison with all the 

 gorgeous floral products of the earth. But, on 

 the other hand, it can truthfully be said that, 

 as regards the various softer tints, which are 

 really the most prevalent among all species, the 

 beauty of the water fowl, in the aggregate, is 

 not inferior to that of their terrestrial kindred ; 

 that in effects of pure white, and in the rich 

 and striking combinations of black and white, 

 many of the water fowl are unequalled by their 

 allies on the land ; and that the very humblest of 

 the group are not more plainly dressed than are 



so 



