" But nothing came
of the thought and wish till the spring of '63, when I was teaching
school near West Point. In the library of the Military Academy,
which I frequently visited of a Saturday, I chanced upon the works
of Audubon. I took fire at once. It was like bringing together
fire and powder! I was ripe for the adventure; I had leisure, I
was in a good bird country, and I had Audubon to stimulate me, as
well as a collection of mounted birds belonging to the Academy
for reference. How eagerly and joyously I took up the study! It
fitted in so well with my country tastes and breeding; it turned my
enthusiasm as a sportsman into a new channel; it gave to my walks a
new delight; it made me look upon every grove and wood as a new
storehouse of possible treasures. I could go fishing or camping
or picknicking now with my resources for enjoyment doubled. That
first hooded warbler that I discovered and identified in a near-by
bushy field one Sunday morning--shall I ever forget the thrill of
delight it gave me? And when in August I went with three friends
into the Adirondacks, no day or place or detention came amiss to
me; new birds were calling and flitting on every hand; a new world
was opened to me in the midst of the old.
At once I was moved to write about the birds, and I began my first
paper, "The Return of the Birds," that fall, and finished it in
Washington, whither I went in October, and where I lived for ten
years.
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