APRIL 



|HE mavis of the poet is not an 

 American bird, but the vernal glad- 

 ness overspreads the world, and 

 each country has its own peculiar 

 songsters to give a welcome to the 



" Sweet daughter of a rough and stormy sire, 

 Hoar Winter's blooming child, delightful Spring ! " 



By the force of habit and the influence of 

 names, the appearance of spring in March, 

 however genuine, always seems preliminary, 

 and not till April do we feel ourselves fully 

 launched upon the new course of things. 



The month was ushered in with the first full 

 song of the white-throated sparrows, for which I 

 have been impatiently waiting ; and so gener- 

 ally throughout the Park did their strain fall 

 upon my ear, that it was evidently the result of 

 clever prearrangement. 



It is quite aptly called " peabody bird," as 

 the main part of its song has a striking resem- 



99 



