" She made no reply, but her husband
soon sent him word that a carriage would be at the door in one hour to
convey him to the train for New York.
* * * * *
"If you do not love the birds, you cannot understand them."
I remember enjoying an article on the catbird several years ago in the
_Atlantic Monthly_, and wanting to know more of the woman who had
observed a pair of birds so closely, and could make so charming a
story of their love-affairs and housekeeping experiences, and thinking
that most persons knew next to nothing about birds, their habits, and
homes.
Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, who wrote that bird talk, is now a dear
friend of mine, and while spending a day with me lately was kind
enough to answer all my questions as to how and where and when she
began to study birds. She is not a young woman, is the proud
grandmother of seven children; but her bright face crowned with
handsome white hair, has that young, alert, happy look that comes with
having a satisfying hobby that goes at a lively pace. She said: "I
never thought of being anything but a housekeeping mother until I was
about thirty-one and my husband lost all his property, and want, or a
thousand wants, stared us in the face.
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