THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



175 



flowers, intermingled with shadows of 

 green ferns and dotted by lichens, grey, 

 brown and in motley, and the himible 

 moss. Such pictures are securely en- 

 shrined wnthin my soul. They have 

 been to me blessed consolers in seasons 

 of sadness and sorrow, and now', in the 

 days of my declining years, they bring 

 to me the spirit of peace, joy and cheer- 

 fulness. 



Then comes the study of the birds, 

 the observation of their habits. Read 

 'A\'ake-Robin" by John Burroughs. 

 That cannot fail to inspire you with a 

 desire to begin to study and observe 

 the birds that come about your door- 

 vards even in winter, waiting" to be 

 fed, and the great army of land birds 

 and sea birds that come with the return 

 of summer. 



Olive Thorne Miller truly says, "Ears 

 have they, but they hear not, may be 

 said of many people Once learn to 

 hear the sounds from nature's vast do- 

 main, and observe even a small part of 

 what is wonderful and beautiful in the 

 helds, along the byways, and objects 

 in the open air, countless birds on the 

 wing, you cannot fail to find, not a de- 

 crease in your interest in nature's fauna 

 and her flora and the wonders of her 

 world, but an increase of satisfaction 

 and joy that can come from no other 

 source My last message to my young 

 friends that do not wish to grow old 

 in heart is : Keep in touch with ]\Iofher 

 Nature and her old storybook and you 

 will always find that she has a new leaf 

 for you to ttu-n. Finis has not yet been 

 written on her page. Every day it is 

 my experience that 



"Spring still makes spring within the 

 mind 



When over eighty years are told ; 

 Love wakes anew the throbbing heart 



And I am never old." 



Nature's portals open wide, , 



Her ,a:ifts are free to all; 

 Come, let us gather precious store. 



Before the frosts of Fall. 



— Emma Peirce. 



I have lived to be fifty years old and 

 I have troubled myself overmuch with 

 books, yet with a tiniverse of knowl- 

 edge untouched before me I feel like a 

 child lisping its first lessons. What 

 hope, then, but that the lamp which 

 here dies shall be rekindled in a higher 

 sphere? — "The Phoenix." 



Web-like Growth Around a Tree. 



Singer's Glen, Virginia. 

 To the Editor : 



This strange tree stands near Lester, 

 West X'irginia. The oak seems to have 

 grown u|) throitgh the maple and 



A WKl; (IF MAl'I.K AROLXD AX OAK. 



caused it to take this peculiar shape. I 

 can accoitnt for it in no other way. 

 Yours trtily, 



Harry Staley. 



The White-throated Sparrow. 



By Elizabeth \'an Hoevenberg, East Stone- 

 ham, Maine. 



The white-throat's ringing, bell-like note 

 Is filling all the air with nielod}- so sweet 



and clear, 

 We seem to feel its mys'try float 

 About us far and near. 



He calls on "Old Sam! Peabody, Peabody, 

 Peabody!" 

 Insistant, pleading, earnesth', to 

 "Sow \\heat! cleverly, cleverh-, cleverly!" 



His little head is lifted high,, his white- 

 throat thrills and throbs. 



The notes seem welling to the sky, 



As, tumbling from his trembling beak, they 

 burst in swelling sobs — 



Of "Sow wheat! cleverly, cleverly, clever- 



Insistant, pleading, earnestly, for 

 "Old Sam! Peabod}', Peabod3\ Peabody!" 



