78 The Coming of the Birds 



and piftured a peaceful river and violets 

 and meadow blossoms as bright as they v^ere 

 fragrant. My learned friend smiled, then 

 grew enthusiastic ; must come again to see 

 the birds as they arrived, and — must I say 

 it ? — spoke of beer. Alas ! it was Sunday. 



There are two reasons why April birds are 

 particularly attractive. One is, there are 

 fewer of them, and again, there is pra6tically 

 no foliage to conceal them. Better one bird 

 in full view than a dozen half hidden. Their 

 songs, too, have a flavor of novelty, and ring 

 so assuringly through the leafless woods. The 

 ear forever bends graciously to promises, even 

 though we know they will be broken ; but 

 birds, unlike men, are not given to lying. 

 When they promise May flowers and green 

 leaves they mean it, and, so far as history re- 

 cords, there has never been a May without 

 them, not even the cold May of 1816, when 

 there was ice and snow. But aside from their 

 singing, April birds offer the opportunity of 

 studying their manners, which is better to 

 know than the number of their tail-feathers 

 or the color of their eggs. The brown 

 thrush that sings so glibly from the bare 

 branch of a lonely tree shows now, by his 



