172 LAND OF THE LINGERING SNOW. 



white - throated sparrows were scratching in 

 the leaves. There has been a great migration 

 of these birds this year, or else the usual migra- 

 tion has seemed greater, because the birds have 

 tarried during a week of cool, dry weather 

 when they might have travelled quickly under 

 different circumstances. Several of the apple- 

 trees on the south side of this hill were in bloom, 

 and the hum of bees came from them. It 

 is a soothing sound, akin to the singing of a 

 tea-kettle in some snug farmhouse kitchen. The 

 orioles were in the orchard, but I watched in vain 

 for humming birds. There were orioles in Cam- 

 bridge on Saturday, but they were quiet ; this 

 day is their first of demonstration in numbers. 

 It is also the first day of open lilac blossoms. 



On the north shore of Boon Pond I found a 

 large and beautiful grove of pines. A majority 

 of the trees were pitch-pines, favorite resorts of 

 birds at any season and in any weather. Lying 

 on a bank deeply cushioned with pine needles I 

 spent most of the afternoon fanned by a breeze 

 which swept across the pond, listening to the 

 music of the ripples, the warblers, and the field 

 sparrows in the pasture beyond the grove, and 

 gazing at the blue water, and the deep green of 

 the foliage above me. In winter white-pines 

 are very dark in color, while pitch-pines are 

 golden-green. At this season, by mutual con- 



