Peripatetic Meditations 



names you choose, it is really music. It aptly 

 tells the story of the night. It belongs to dark- 

 ness, to the shadowy side of Nature, just as the 

 robin's whistle heralds the rising sun. 



"Why do they wander throughout all the 

 night ? Turning night into day for a given pur- 

 pose is readily understood among ourselves. It 

 is a necessity due to the demands of business, 

 a strictly utilitarian condition. Is wandering 

 'twixt the clouds and tree-tops a matter of ne- 

 cessity or choice? The latter, from my point 

 of view. Before midnight, every heron has 

 sumptuously dined and the later wandering 

 must needs be a grateful relaxation from long 

 standing in the marshes. I have seen scores of 

 herons of several species, crossing and re-cross- 

 ing the meadows and at times circling above 

 them, as late as two A. M. There seemed no 

 necessity for so doing, so we put it down as a 

 matter of choice. 



Perhaps when our air-ships are common as 

 wagons, we too may wander over the earth and 

 shout down to less favored mortals who are 

 still toiling on the globe's surface, or trying to 

 drown their sorrow in sleep. Though often 

 abroad by day, these birds are well called night- 



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