ad
enough of them. If that be so and he does not care for birds, he will
have nothing but my society, which he will not find sufficiently
interesting for so long a time." I had relied upon the birds to provide
entertainment for him. If that failed, I doubted my own resources. I
need have had no fear about his liking for birds. I found, not only that
he had a remarkable and abiding interest in birds, but a wonderful
knowledge of them. Though I know something about British birds I should
have been lost and confused among American birds, of which unhappily I
know little or nothing. Colonel Roosevelt not only knew more about
American birds than I did about British birds, but he knew about
British birds also. What he had lacked was an opportunity of hearing
their songs, and you cannot get a knowledge of the songs of birds in any
other way than by listening to them.

We began our walk, and when a song was heard I told him the name of the
bird. I noticed that as soon as I mentioned the name it was unnecessary
to tell him more. He knew what the bird was like. It was not necessary
for him to see it. He knew the kind of bird it was, its habits and
appearance. He just wanted to complete his knowledge by hearing the
song. He had, too, a very trained ear for bird songs, which cannot be
acquired without having spent much time in listening to them. How he had
found time in that busy life to acquire this knowledge so thoroughly it
is almost impossible to imagine, but there the knowledge and training
undoubtedly were. He had one of the most perfectly trained ears for
bird songs that I have ever known, so that if three or four birds were
singing together he would pick out their songs, distinguish each, and
ask to be told each separate name; and when farther on we heard any bird
for a second time, he would remember the song from the first telling and
be able to name the bird himself.

He had not only a trained ear, but keen feeling and taste for bird
songs. He was quick to express preferences, and at once picked out the
song of the English blackbird as being the best of the bird songs we
heard. I have always had the same feeling about the blackbird's song. I
do not say it is better than the songs of American birds, which I have
not heard, and I think Colonel Roosevelt thought one or two of the
American bird songs were better than anything we had in England; but his
feeling for the English blackbird's song I found confirmed the other day