THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
31 
that steal our sweets, that creep, or gently wing their 
way in glittering splendor around us ; and of all 
the miraculous creatures that sported their hour in 
the sunny beam, the winter gnat {tipula hiemalis) 
alone remains to frolic in some rare and partial gleam. 
The myriads of the pool are dormant, or hidden 
from our sight ; the quadrupeds, few and wary, veil 
their actions in the glooms of night, and we see little 
of them ; but birds are with us always, they give a 
character to spring, and are identified with it ; they 
enchant and amuse us all summer long with sports, 
animation, hilarity, and glee ; they cluster round us, 
suppliant in the winter of our year, and, unrepining 
through cold and want, seek their scanty meal amidst 
the refuse of the barn, the stalls of the cattle, or at 
the doors of our house ; or flitting hungry from one 
denuded and bare spray to another, excite our pity 
and regard. Their lives are patterns of gaiety, clean- 
liness, alacrity, and joy." 
After having perused the above remarks, by one of 
our most admired popular writers, who is there but 
will admit that tliere is a " Language of Birds'' ? 
