A NEW ENGLAND MAY-DAY 5 



the most beautiful varieties in the 

 markets or the flower shows. The 

 trade florists grow them more for size 

 and less for j ewel-like markings. Here 

 are solid colours, hues, veinings, trac- 

 ings, and varied casts of expression, 

 harlequin, sober, coquettish, as if con- 

 tinual hybridization had placed human 

 intelligence in them. 



Not a leaf as yet on the hardy roses, 

 and the sweet peas are only piercing the 

 soil. The trellis skirting the garden is 

 a lattice-work of wintry branches, but 

 in the wren-boxes cleaning and build- 

 ing is advancing. Birds are not like 

 flowers; the climate with them matters 

 little; the food supply is the great 

 question, and many a bird, sent south 

 to winter by the ornithologists, will 

 remain contentedly here, if grubs and 

 berries are in plenty. The wren is, 

 perhaps, the most capable bird of the 



