_ DECEMBER OUT-OF-DOORS. 
‘* December ’s as pleasant as May.’’ 
Old Hymn. 
For a month so almost universally spoken 
against, November commonly brings more 
than its full proportion of fair days; and 
last year (1888) this proportion was, I think, 
even greater than usual. On the Ist and 
5th I heard the peeping of hylas; Sunday, 
the 4th, was enlivened by a farewell visita- 
tion of. bluebirds; during the first week, at 
least four sorts of butterflies — Disippus, 
Philodice, Antiopa, and Comma — were on 
the wing, and a single Philodice (our com- 
mon yellow butterfly) was flying as late as 
the 16th. Wild flowers of many kinds — 
not less than a hundred, certainly — were 
in bloom; among them the exquisite little 
pimpernel, or poor man’s weather - glass. 
My daily notes are full of complimentary 
allusions to the weather. Once in a while it 
rained, and under date of the 6th I find this 
