REV. GEO. B. PRATT. 79 
Thoreau’s—with pessimism thrown out, however. Maurice 
Thompson’s “ Byways” and “ Sylvan Secrets ” are delightful 
reading. Olive Thorne Miller and Bradford Torrey show their 
book faces in attractive familiarity. I also have “ Birds 
through an Opera-Glass,” by Florence Merriam; “ Our Com- 
mon Birds,” by Jno. P. Grant; ‘The Birds’ Calendar,” by 
Parkhurst ; “In Bird Land,” by Kayser, and “ Birdcraft,” by 
Mabel O. Wright. I must be understood in this paper to be 
simply giving my personal experience and possessions; I at- 
tempt nothing further. I find, as you may have noticed, that 
ignorance is a close ghost arising before me—the substance 
of Ornithological knowledge being inexhaustible. The 
numbers and the classification of birds of all countries may 
be approximately defined, but the nature, the habits, the 
ways of the dear creatures have never and can never be 
fully deciphered. I think a close observer will find new 
points constantly arising in his study and observation. 
While the best observations can be made in the country 
town, the question arises, How much can be done in the 
city life? Is there any way of getting at bird-life from the 
heart of a city? I believe the spring migration of birds 
may be very fairly seen in some of our city parks, better 
than some people may apprehend—even to the coming of 
the Warblers, that phalanx of beautiful, parti-colored bodies 
which nearly drove me wild to classify when I first began, 
and memory now is very treacherous when brought suddenly 
to the test. Did anybody see in this very Art Institute, 
during the Congress of Religions, a little Warbler flying 
for many days among the girders and bright flags of the 
Hall of Columbus? It was tome an emblem of a divine 
spirit hovering over that great gathering, and reminded me 
of Bayard Taylor’s expression about the Mourning Dove, 
(emblem of the Holy Spirit, as I take it), which he found 
in every country in which he traveled. 
On the 3d of April, 1893, I spent part of an afternoon in 
Douglass Park, Chicago. I counted 4 Robins, 2 Juncos, 
