The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1913-01-30
The Beauty OF
the Earth.
Gayhoppin.

Gayhoppin.
Paper read before the ChautduQud Circle:
In writing upon this subject one
finds it to be by no means small.
To do justice to THE Beauty of The
Earth it would be necessary to
write very large book, and as our
time is limited / will have to cover
it in a hop-skip-and-a-jump way.
l have tried to cover, understanding
ly, what, in my estimation, goes to
make up the beauty of the earth, and
to also give small insight, at the
same time, to habits and modes of
life.
First: Bird Beauty. If all the
birds in existance were to suddenly
die would we not note great differ
ence in The Beauty of The Earth?
The Robin, familiarly called Robin
Redbreast," so named from the red
feathers on its breast, is worthy Of
special notice. In the spring of the
year there are very few of us who
are not watching for the robins
appearance. The robin is known to
practically every cline and race and
it matters not to what family or
class he belongs. The bird of the
redbreast is the bird of the human
breast. Lucy Larcom has said the
following about the Robin.
/ Robin. Sir Robin. gay vested knight;
/ Now you have come to US, summers in
sight;
You never dream of the wonders You bring
Visions that follow the fash of your wing.
How all the beautiful by and by
Around you and after you seems to fly;
Sing on. or eat on. as pleases your mind.
Well have you earned every morsel you find
AYE! ha! hal ha Whistles Robin my dear
Let us all take our choice of good cheer"
Legends concerning the Robin are
numerous. It is claimed he was the
original church sexton, covering the
dead from the eye of sun and man
plling leaves about them-the wan
|derlng minstrel or the knight OF
kingly robes. The English ballad
Babes in the Wood" 1mmortalized
his memory in poetical sentiment:
Their little corpse the Robin-redbreast
| and strewed with pious bills the leaves
i The legends go on further to say
that not alone to church sexton did
| he confine his duties, but he became
both sculptor and clergyman, strip.
ping the foliage from> the trees or
which to write there elegies, ano
leaving uncovered trunks as monu
ments. Many of the old poets
Drayton, Grahame, Hood. Herricl
and others immortalized the Robin
! They especially called attention t.
the superstition which I above citei
the caring for the dead.
Canary birds must naturally come
in for their share of praise, not oDl!
for their beautiful plumage but als'
: for their singing abilities.
"A bird for thee in silken bonds.
Il Whose yellow plumage shines like polishe
gold;
From distant Isles the lovely stranger comes
And bears the far away Canary name"
-Littleton
. Birds which are worthy of ,notic'
are: Oriole, Bluebird. Meadow Lark
Bobolink and many others. o
. birds, Prof. n. S. Sbaler says il
; part: THE sense Of beauty in tn,
t bird is not altogether limited as il
fairly we'll shown by the fact tina
their nests often have a grace tha
, seems attributable to a wider rang
. ing aesthetics motive, a measure o
: care beyond what is necessary 70
! mere utility, SO often given to then
to satisfy desire for shapliness.
II So you see that the bird, beside
lbeing beautiful in itself, strives, a