36 BOULDER REVERIES. 



deep forest, I am a pessimist and one of rank 

 degree. 



Even now the shrill call of the harvest fly 

 and the trill of the first green grasshopper throw 

 a pall over my spirit as I realize that all of the 

 spring and half of the summer of another season 

 have, for me, forever gone. For our time is our 

 only real possession on this earth. We may 

 gather and hoard other things but they are rub- 

 bish, which only enables us, perchance, to pro- 

 long and to some degree enjoy our time. Naked 

 and without a penny came we onto earth. 

 Naked and without a penny do we depart there- 

 from. What have we then except our days 

 our short span of years thereon ? Those of us 

 who have reason can use them as we will for 

 good or evil deeds for base or noble thoughts 

 for weal or woe unto our fellow men. 



Another bird whose notes are often heard 

 on these mid-July days is the yellow-breasted 

 chat. 6 One is just now making his presence 

 known in the thicket behind me by a series of 

 noises as variable as they are discordant. He 



*Icteria virens (L.). 



