Song Birds and Water Fowl 



determined. They are allowed no spontaneity 

 of place : 



"Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes, 

 Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech : " 



nor can such a prisoner, hanging in a room, 

 with a kalsomined sky, be enhanced by the ef- 

 fective contrast of its various kindred, or by 

 the foil of surrounding Nature, nor pleasantly 

 diversify its own melody by the alternate swell 

 and ebb of varying distance. It becomes a 

 genuine song only when poured forth as the 

 sparkling climax of its wildest freedom. 



But let one walk abroad, in this transition 

 period, through sombre lanes and fields, or 

 along a country road, and he will listen to a 

 story that, however old, is ever new. From a 

 stone wall or bush, close by, he will hear, un- 

 doubtedly, the strong, vivacious strain of the 

 song-sparrow, which, more than any other bird, 

 seems to feel the responsibility as well as joy of 

 announcing spring's arrival. A little farther 

 on, a telegraph wire transmits a novel message 

 in the contented self-communings and mellow 

 meditations of a guileless bluebird, the emblem 

 of gentleness in every motion of its soul and 

 body. 



278 



