The Birds' Calendar 



one dropped out of the air, leaving the forest 

 to the solemn stillness of the night, there 

 sounded last of all, out of the gathering 

 gloom, the distant, sad refrain of the pewee, 

 like a mournful " fmis " to the day. It 

 seemed the essence of darkness transmuted 



It is interesting to note how every physical 

 condition of the globe peculiarly fosters its own 

 forms of life. Heat and cold, moist and dry, 

 light and darkness, are each promotive of its 

 own species, vegetable and animal, for which 

 any other condition would be injurious or fatal. 

 The edelweiss flourishes in the arctic clefts of 

 the Alps, the coral polyp deep beneath the ocean, 

 the soil itself teems with life ; and while in gen- 

 eral sunlight is so essential to healthful vitality, 

 yet darkness hath its charms as well, and vege- 

 tation sometimes reserves its blossoming for the 

 night, while the setting sun is the signal for 

 many a beast and bird, crawling reptile and 

 hovering insect, to awake and resume its daily 

 activity. 



While birds are chiefly diurnal, a few, like 

 the owls, are nocturnal, and a few are crepus- 



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