The spirit of spring is in the 
air* Not the hopefully delusive 
promise so often overshadowed 
by delays and disappointments, but the real spirit 
that breathes life to all animated Nature* There 
is something universally contagious in the awaken- 
ing of Nature* The piping call of a Robin, or 
even the silent opening of a bud, awakens the 
insistent thrill of fellowship in the mystery of 
life* The solitary messengers of a week ago have 
been followed by advancing flocks, and some have 
already assumed their old aspect of familiarity* 
Robins are hurrying up the valleys and over the 
adjacent hills, active and energetic, but obdurately 
silent* Fences, trees, and shrubbery, roads, lanes, 
and open fields — every available resting place is 
tried in impatient succession, but through the 
active communal life of the new arrivals there is an 
uneasy suspicion of human intruders* The com- 
munism of the gathering flocks will soon be lost in 
17 B 
