96 In Touch with Nature. 



charming spectacle than the fresh green foliage 

 of a forest. The shadows beneath it are not 

 harshly defined ; the straggling sunbeams light up 

 the crooked paths, even to the winter run-ways of 

 the mice and rabbits; there is no hint of gloom, 

 as in midsummer. Nor is the wood but an ex- 

 panse of mottled green. The snowy dog-wood, 

 the blooming cherry, and violet-mantled knolls 

 give that variety we crave when we look at nature 

 as a whole rather than single features of it. 



But the woods were not deserted. Scarcely a 

 tree was without its attendant warblers. These 

 are essentially May-day birds. There are many 

 that remain throughout the summer, more than 

 one that is with us during winter ; but now the great 

 host are upon us, the greater number bound north- 

 ward to Maine, Canada, and beyond. These birds 

 are widely different, yet the family likeness run- 

 ning through all is very marked. To-day they were 

 abroad in full force, and such marvellous energy 

 and unceasing motion are not seen elsewhere in 

 the bird-world. Swallows may be more swift, the 

 humming-bird outspeed them ; but with the war- 

 blers it is not mere flight, but the gymnastic 



