8 The American Angler 
Its yellow crests 
ground, y: 
On slender stalks, the Eupatoriums 
So proud uplift their white and purple crowns. 
Back from the stream, along the stony ridge, 
Wild roses bloom with blushing modesty 
And shed their pink white petals on the ground. 
display. From marshy 
When a whistling boy he may have 
tried to imitate the simple notes of the 
blue bird, the robin, and the thrush, 
and early became familiar with their 
nesting places in the orchard and grove, 
and held them sacred as his own home, 
though heoften climbed to get a peep at 
the blue or spotted eggs, or the gaping 
fledglings. His holiday angling excur- 
sions often led him to the haunts of the 
wild fowl that frequent the ponds and 
streams, where, in the quiet and safety 
of seclusion, they plume their oily 
breasts, or bring forth their downy 
broods from undiscovered nests. He 
is, therefore, on friendly terms with 
them all, especially the bold kingfisher, 
which he often sees, either poised in 
mid-air over some luckless minnow, or, 
with sharp discordant cry, following the 
windings of the stream; its blue, purple 
and silver gray plumage harmonizing 
with the liquid shadows of the water. 
Though a very shy bird, the blue heron 
often suffers his near approach without 
fear, as it stands in the swift shallow 
current, with the silvery bright wavelets 
breaking against its slender legs. Pos- 
sibly, in his quiet stealing along the 
shore, he may surprise a solitary wild 
duck amid the tall rushes and cat tails 
that border the coving side of a deep 
pool. It strikes him quite curiously, 
in his observation of the little sand- 
piper, as it runs or flits on before him 
from stone to stone, up or down the 
stream, that the wavering, tilting or 
teetering motion of the bird accords 
with the rippling surface of running 
water; and its soft gray color, blending 
it with the pebbles and rocks, is a pro- 
vision of Nature for the protection of 
the species. Then he is called to won- 
der whence comes a peculiar wierd and 
distressing cry from high in the air, and 
finds, on looking up, that it proceeds 
from the kill-deer or plover, which, in 
wheeling flight, seem anxious about 
her nest in the damp meadow or fallow 
ground hard by. ‘‘ Bob-white’’ some- 
times calls to him from across the fields 
with his familiar friendly whistle, and 
the whirring flight of a partridge or 
woodcock may startle him as he steps 
from the water to walk round a deep 
pool that forbids his wading. On the 
wooded hillside he may possibly catch 
sight of the black or gray squirrel leap- 
ing from bough to bough; or the ras- 
cally little red squirrel perched upon his 
haunches, nibbling the husk from an 
unripe nut, or scampering up the tree 
with a saucy whisk of the tail at your 
intrusion. The timid little chipmunk, 
with a startled squeak, skims along the 
stony wall, or old fence rail, to reach his 
den amid the tangled roots of stump or 
tree. Perchance he may unexpectedly 
meet the gaze of a pair of languid eyes, 
watching him from the long deep grass 
at the edge of the wood, and discover 
his friend, the rabbit, nibbling the sweet 
clover stems at a safe distance from his 
burrow. His ears are quick to catch 
the sound of the red-headed wood pecker 
tapping on an old hollow tree; and as 
the drum-like music rings through 
the woods, it reminds him of boyhood 
school days, when his attention was 
demanded by similar tapping of the 
master’s ferule on the desk. Should he 
come to the remnant of a bridge that 
once spanned the stream, he will most 
likely get a glimpse of the Phcebe bird, 
one of the firstlings of the spring, whose 
nest, he knows, is safely lodged against 
