Song Birds and Water Fowl 

The maltese pussy-willows, too, are out; and, 
in the peculiar generous-heartedness of the sea- 
son, one must needs give a kindly greeting even 
to theskunk cabbage—a low-lived relative of 
several gorgeous specimens in the Arum fam- 
ily—which, at all events, sets a worthy exam- 
ple of promptness to many a more agreeable 
individual. The public puts a substantial pre- 
mium, however, upon the earliest signs of 
spring ; and it was not long after I discovered 
my first specimen, that I found the blossoms of 
this vile weed for sale, on the streets of New 
York, at ten cents each! Moreover, throughout 
the entire year, there is not to be found a live- 
lier, richer color, anywhere, than the intense 
emerald green of the moss that is already so 
luxuriant on all the rocks, each little patch a 
mimic forest for a bevy of infinitesimal fairies. 
Unless we are ‘‘ specialists ’’ we seldom stop to 
discover what a wealth of creative skill and 
beauty is concentrated in many such a common 
object. Between the microscopic, on the one 
side, that we trample under foot, and the tele- 
scopic, on the other side, that lies, unrealized, 
above our heads, what a relatively small portion 
of creation comes within our ordinary range of 
vision or of thought. 
ty 
Oy 
Ww 
