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 
