The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-07

cry unto God?" A question answered in
the Psalms: He giveth to the beast his
food and to the young ravens which cry"
Answered again by the great Teacher,
fConsider the ravens. for they neither sow
nor reap, which neither have storehouses
nor barn, and God feedeth them" How
much higher and finer is this conception
of the raven than that given us in Poe's
raven!
Shakespeare makes Lavina in Titus
Andronicus" use these words
Some say that ravens foster forlorn chill
dren,
The whilst their own birds famlsh in
their nests.'
II would be interesting to know if this
saying has any relation to the Biblical
story. Within a few days l have been
told on the best of authority a story of q
cat, bereaved by the drowning Of its lone
kitten, adopting a family of chickens and
bringing them bits of bread and meat
from its own supply and then watching
them lovingly while they ate these gifts.
But our smaller and more familiar birds
are mentioned with equal honor. The saith
Psalm is the song of the sparrow and the
swallow. These birds had then the same
familiar and home-loving character as
now. They had the same ha bit of nesting
around the temple the sparrows found
crevices in which to build their nests How
touching the lesson of trust which the
sparrows teach in the New Testament
Are not five sparrows sold for two far
things, and not one of them is forgotten
before God2 Fear not, therefore; We are
of more value than many sparroWs"
Sparrows are such cheerful birds, so So
cial in their chirpings, that the call of one
of them mourning for its mate seems all
the sadder for the contrast. Such desola~
ton is in the cry; Il watch and am as a
sparrow alone upon the housetop"
The very joy Of coming spring is in the
Song of Solomon.
For, 10, the winter is past
The rain is over and gone,
The flowers appear on the earth.
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our
land"
The migration of the birds is mentioned
also in jeremiah. Yea, the stork in the
heavens knoweth his appointed time, and
the turtle and the crane and the swallow
observe the time of their coming" A like
reference is found in the Book of Job
Doth the hawk soar by Thy wisdom, and
stretch out her wings toward the South??"
The frst part of this question plainly i'm
plies that there is a mystery in flight be-
yond our ready knowledge, as the Duke or
Argyll so fully admits in his discussion Of
the flight of birds; and the latter clause,
the picture of the hawk stretching out its
wings in the swift, steady flight of the
fall migration, may well be contrasted with
Browning's picture of hawks soaring for
prey near their nest
What did say?-that a small bird sings
III day long. save when a brown pair
Of hawks from the wood float with wide
wings
Strained to a bell; gainst monday glare
You count the streaks and rings"
The helplessness Of storm driven migra-
tory birds. their great mutitudes, and the
ease with which they are taken after a
long flight across the sea, are clearly seen
in the following account: "A strong wind
brought quails from the sea, and let them
fall by the camp, about a days journey
on this side, and about a days journey on
the other side, and the people stood up
oil that day and all the night. and all the
next day, and gathered the quails ."
Perhaps the havoc wrought among the
flocks Of wild pigeons in the earlier days
OF this country comes the nearest to this
account, but quails migrate in great num-
hers, and there are accounts of their be-
ing taken in nets by the 10000 I'm a day
and 10000 being Melted on the little is
land of Capri, near Naples, in a single sea-
son.
The unrest Of the turtle dove in captivity
and the eager swiftness of its flight to its
early home among the rocky cliffs when
set free gives meaning to the sad plant
of David, weary with the cares of royal
ty and the faithlessness of those whom
he wished to trust:
"And said, Oh, that I had wings like
a dove!
Then would fly away and be at rest,
To- then would l wander far Off,
] would lodge in the wilderness,
would haste me to a shelter
From the stormy wind and tempest"
The swiftness with which rumor brings
to a king any whisper against him-so
many hope to secure favor by telling it.
is well compared to the speed OF a bird 9
fight. The picture Of the sower going
forth from the village TO the remote fields
to sow the grain, and of the birds follow
ing his steps to gather up the seed that
might fall upon the narrow paths which
bordered or crossed the fields is intensely
oriental and out-of-doorsy. How often
even in New England have we seen the
robin following closely in the furrow af-
ter the plow to gather up the grubs and
worms that might be uncovered.
birds have" haunts lodglng-places.
resting-places, and not nests" as in our
version, presents just such a picture Of
some sequestered grove or tree-clump.
some sheltered hillside or brookside,
where birds may gather and rest undis-
turbed. The bird haunts where great
numbers gather TO spend the night for
weeks at time, as the swallows do ev-
cry fall In the willows on an island in the
Mancaianaka 90 OF Wntaruilla o.ara.a naarar