vireos were mingling with these louder strains. It was 

 the first time I had heard them this spring, though 

 every day since, I have heard their cheerful songs in 

 the elms along the city streets. In the upper Letch- 

 worth woods I occasionally hear the strange call of the 

 white-eyed vireo. This call consists of three notes 

 something like '^ it is queer," the last syllable strongly 

 accented and much prolonged. The scarlet tanagers, 

 that for several seasons past, by their beauty and sweet 

 songs, have added such a charm to the surroundings, 

 failed to come again this year. Probably some misera- 

 ble taxidermist could tell, if he would, the cause of 

 their detention. The grove back of the hotel had been 

 explored by earlier arbutus gatherers, who had already 

 picked and pulled up too much of these now rapidly 

 disappearing plants. The lavish waste was apparent 

 by the number of vines and half withered flowers 

 scattered about in the track of the wasteful and 

 thoughtless botanists. But I remembered some wild 

 secluded nooks across the river unknown to most excur- 

 sionists, where I was sure to find without difficulty all 

 that I wished. Soon after dinner these retired nooks 

 among the hemlocks and undergrowth of chestnuts were 

 reached, and the sought treasures greeted us on every 

 side, beautiful blossoms loading the air with a delicious 

 fragrance, pleasing alike the senses of smell and sight. 

 The arbutus is inimitably sweet, having a wild, 

 woodsy fragrance, aromatic and spicy, strongest of 

 birch and wintergreen, and suggestive of other more 

 delicate odors not easily analyzed. 



