THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 265 
in our list of song-birds. Once confined to the 
narrow boundaries of a few islands of the sea, 
his musical gifts have made him cosmopolitan. 
In the line of melody he is an adept, while in 
the spontaneity and brilliancy of his style he is 
unsurpassed. He is the only one of our true 
song-birds that seems to take kindly to captiv¬ 
ity, and therefore is justly the universal favorite 
among cage-birds. 
“ The delicious robin-music which greets the 
earliest beams of morning, and that floats again 
on the evening air, is a joy of song that has 
thrilled every ear that can be moved by ‘ con¬ 
cord of sweet sounds.’ 
The softer, shorter, but equally delicious 
notes of the bluebirds, warblers, wrens, and 
larks fill up the rich choruses of our landscapes, 
which altogether make up a benison of beauty 
and sweetness that should make every devout 
heart thankful. 
Hitherto, in tracing out the wonderful and 
the beautiful in Nature, evidence has been fol¬ 
lowed which carried the observation downward, 
where the wisdom and power of God have been 
revealed in marvels of design and workmanship, 
and his condescending goodness in provisions 
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