YL— RAMBLES THROUGH THE 

 WOODLANDS. 



" The softly-warbled soui:^ 

 Comes from the pleasant woods, and colored wings 

 Glance quick in the bright sun, that moves along 



The forest openings." 



— LONGFKLI.OW. 



The charm of the woodland in the foliage season is 

 well-nigh perennial in its effect upon our nature, and is 

 somewhat akin to the virtues of the fabled fountain for 

 which the deluded Spanish leader sought. In our child- 

 hood we eagerly anticipated the pleasures of the day set 

 apart for a ramble in the woods, and as we grew older we 

 arranged to take our outing regularly, spending one day 

 or more of the season under the magical influence of 

 nature. There we rested in the shade of the trees oa 

 grassy slopes, or culled the flowers seemingly more fra- 

 grant and beautiful than those in our gardens at home. 

 There we heard the voices of many wildwood songsters 

 whose names we never learned, but whose notes appear 

 familiar whenever we hear them. Many of the birds of 

 the woods we knew at our homes on the prairies and in 

 the towns. The blue jay, whose harsh cries and striking 

 colors call attention to him wherever he goes, and whose 

 visits to the evergreen trees in our lawns and door-yards 

 reveal his familiar disposition, was one of the well-known 

 friends we met in the woods. There he was in his ele- 

 ment, garrulous and noisy, flying here and there in com- 

 pany with several of his fellows, all making the woods 

 resound with their calls. The diminutive downy wood- 

 pecker, swinging from tree to tree, uttering his loud 

 "plick," or driving his sharp bill into the hard bark in 



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