Song Birds and Water Fowl 



ciation with that glorious element from which 

 they seem to derive their birth, and a portion 

 of whose spirit they appear to fling upon the 

 winds. In such an atmosphere one cannot feel 

 their lack of melody. Indeed, it would seem 

 incongruous if sea fowl had been gifted with 

 the power of song. The mood that animates 

 the oriole and bobolink would ill befit the 

 solemn, lonely grandeur of the ocean's restless 

 life, whose stormy billows are so furious and 

 defiant, while even his gentlest waves seem ter- 

 ribly in earnest, with the quiet grandeur of 

 suppressed omnipotenge. The human heart, 

 when sensible of his majestic pulse, will strong- 

 ly throb in unison, but throb in silence. The 

 songs of earth are trivial and ephemeral against 

 the ocean's massive and eternal undertones ; the 

 contrast grates upon the ear. And when, in 

 storm, he dashes his stupendous, thundering 

 waves against the shore, the spell-bound auditor 

 may well exclaim, " Before the ocean's august 

 presence, let all the earth keep silence ! ' ' 



And yet the aqueous element — so it ht fresh 

 water — is a very harmonious factor in that 

 ensemble of Nature wherein the melody is given 

 to the birds. The delicious warble of the wren, 

 the vireo, the water thrush, may effectively 



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