Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/332

 turn my eye from that—the desire to find the truth. Thus shall I find the child of God!

Therefore, in God's name, farewell to books, to the old friends and pasture-grounds. I press forwards towards that which is before me, and confide in the fatherly guidance of God. A something infinitely delightful and elevating has taken possession of my soul with these thoughts, and filled my heart with joy. Weak, I yet know myself to be strong, bound down to the earth, I yet know that I have wings; I am merely a child and yet I can over come the world.

And thus I go forth and converse with the flowers, and listen to the birds and to the whispering of the great live-oaks. Oaks like these, with their long, depending trails of moss must have inspired the oracle of Dodona.

The blackbirds which build in them in great numbers, are about the size of our jackdaw, and have on each side their necks, below the head, a fine yellow ruff, like a half-round frill. The mockingbirds are grey, about as large as our Swedish nightingale, and their song is very intricate and often really charming; but it wants the strong inspiration of the European nightingale and lark. It is as if the bird sang from memory; sang reminiscences, and imitated a number of sounds of other birds and even animals. There are, however, in its song, beautiful, peculiar tones resembling those both of the thrush and the nightingale. People say that these birds dance minuets with each other. I too have seen them here figuring towards one another, tripping quite in a minuet-fashion. I suppose this is their way of wooing. It is remarkable that people never succeed in rearing in cages the young of these birds which have been taken from the nest; they always die shortly after their captivity. It is asserted that the mothers come to them and give them poison. The full-grown birds in the country thrive very well and sing in cages.

I am sometimes interrupted in my forenoon musings