40 IN BIRD LAND. 
NAOT 
WINTER EROLIGS: 
AD Mr. Lowell never written anything but 
“A Good Word for Winter,” he would still 
have deserved a place in the front rank of American 
writers. What a genuine appreciation of Nature, 
even in her sterner and more unfriendly moods, 
breathes in every line of his manfully written mono- 
graph! Blessed be the man whose love for Nature 
is so leal and deeply rooted that he can say, “ Even 
though she slay me, yet will I trust in her!”” When 
the storm howls dismally, and the icy gusts strike 
you rudely in the face; when the cold rain or sleet 
pelts you spitefully ; when, in short, Nature seems 
to frown and scold and bluster, — the loyal lover 
of her feels no waning of affection, but knows that 
beneath all her bluster and apparent harshness she 
carries a tender, maternal heart in her bosom that 
responds to his wooing. No, Thomson is in error 
when he says that winter is the “inverted year.” 
Winter, as well as summer, is the year right end up, 
standing squarely on its feet; or, if it does some- 
times turn a somersault, it quickly wheels about 
again into an upright position. Nor is Cotton’s 
dictum correct that winter is “our mortal enemy.” 
ee 
