herself where she may lay her young, near thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God."

And the name

means any singing, chirping bird. "liberty," as applied to a bird which builds in the temple, can hardly mean any other than the swallow, which lives on the wing, perpetually going and coming, and cannot bear the least confinement. The Psalm from which these words are taken is a song of desire from the captives in Babylon for return to their temple and their homes in Jerusalem. The song-bird and the swallow can go, but they cannot; that is, their affection for the spiritual truth of the service of the Lord, and for natural, free delight in His service, all centre there as in their homes; but their own daily lives are still in spiritual captivity to evil and falsity.1. With careful attention, those who are familiar with birds will readily see their analogies. But, without attempting perfect accuracy, I may say

1 A. E. 391.

that among our common birds the one which we familiarly call the robin, industrious, domestic, loud-voiced, at home in the orchards and mowingfields, talks to me of the cares of house and family, and gives thanks for abundant supplies; his friend, the blue-bird, not less domestic, but softer and more varied in voice, and of more elegant plumage and form, tells of modest content, and of the pleasures of natural tastefulness in a frugal home. The merry, boastful bobolink, tumbling his notes out promiscuously as he flies, reminds me of children just from school, and tells of the joys of recreation after labor.1 The sweet minor song of the mountain sparrow brings the restfulness of spiritual views of nature in solitude. And the

1 The bobolink dons his gay black and white plumage, comes to his summer home and bursts into song, quite late in the season, - not until summer is fully established. After a very short season he silently resumes his sober robes and retires for a long winter. As a song-bird, he probably expresses the joys of deliverance from temptations, of relief from suffering, as well as "recreation after labor." It is significant in this connection, that in winter he is so fond of rice as to take the name of "rice-bird" in the South. The correspondence of rice is with duties done from obedience.

several kinds of thrushes, living in the woods and by the waters, some with the power of appreciating and imitating the notes of all other birds, and most of them having of their own sweeter and more varied songs than any others, seem the very poets and singers of our social world. They sing to me of the sweetest and most interior domestic affections and friendships.

All these, and many others, represent affections which enjoy illustrations of truth and evidences of goodness; of these they talk and sing, innocently and with charity.

IT

BIRDS OF BEAUTIFUL PLUMAGE.

is rare that birds possessing pleasant voices are gifted also with beautiful feathers. The blue-birds and canaries are, perhaps, the most notable exceptions. Upon this subject Mr. Wood remarks:

"As a general rule, it is found that the most brilliant songsters among the birds are attired in the plainest garb; and it may safely be predicted of any peculiarly gorgeous bird, that power, quality, and sweetness of voice are in inverse ratio to its beauty of plumage."

He mentions the dazzling colors of sun-birds, humming-birds, and some others, and says:

"In all these creatures, the male possesses no real song, the glorious beauty of the feathers compensating him and his mate for the absence of poetic utterance. Why this should be the case is a problem which has long attracted the attention of observant men, and it seems to me that a key may be found to its solution in the now acknowledged fact

BIRDS OF BEAUTIFUL PLUMAGE.

217

that sound and color run in parallel lines through creation, and closely correspond with each other in their several relations. . . . It may be therefore that, on the one side, the bird which is possessed of a good voice and a plain dress pours forth his love and manifests his sympathetic emotions in gushing strains, which are addressed to the ears of his mate; again, the bright-plumaged bird utters his voiceless song by the vivid hues that flash from his glittering attire, the eye being the only medium through which his partner, whose ears are not attuned to melody, could realize the fulness of his emotional utterance." 1

It is a singular fact, that among the brilliant birds there are several which love to adorn their homes and favorite haunts with lichens, bright feathers, shells, white stones, or any other gaylycolored materials that they can find. Perhaps they are the only animals with a decided taste of this kind. It is interesting to discover the love of expression by color and form, here in the line of birds parallel to that in which we found the love of musical expression.

1 Nat. Hist., p. 258.