a 
December 

In the chill of a bright March morning the 
song sparrow, with his lusty welcome to the 
reviving earth ; in June the robin carolling in 
the maple at the first blush of dawn; the wood 
or the hermit thrush pouring forth his golden 
notes in the cool repose of asummer’s eve; the 
- serene cadence of the vesper sparrow, floating 
from quiet fields ; the mid-day jubilation of the 
purple finch in the orchard; the merry tone of 
the chickadee suddenly dissolving the icy deso- 
lation of a winter’s day ; these and numerous 
other voices, louder and fainter, are giving 
Nature’s invitation to go forth and behold her 
works. On every hand mystery is ripening 
into clear knowledge under the eye and ear of 
man ; it is the mind’s perpetual harvest. 
It is during the period of nidification (ap- 
proximately May and June) that a bird is seen 
and heard at its best. This is the climax of 
its annual experience, the fulness of its joy, 
when it blooms into the maturity of its nature. 
Its song is then most hearty and, copious, its 
instinctive powers and affection most wonder- 
fully exhibited. Its timidity, and at the same 
time its boldness, are most marked at this sea- 
son, as if realizing its responsibility for the per- 
petuity of its kind. Its devices for misleading 
311 
