DECEMBER OUT-OF-DOORS. 



" December 's as pleasant as May." 



Old Hymn. 



FOR a month so almost universally spoken 

 against, November commonly brings more 

 than its full proportion of fair days; and 

 last year (1888) this proportion was, I think, 

 even greater than usual. On the 1st and 

 5th I heard the peeping of hylas ; Sunday, 

 the 4th, was enlivened by a farewell visita- 

 tion of bluebirds ; during the first week, at 

 least four sorts of butterflies Disippus, 

 Philodice, Antiopa, and Comma were on 

 the wing, and a single Philodice (our com- 

 mon yellow butterfly) was flying as late as 

 the 16th. Wild flowers of many kinds 

 not less than a hundred, certainly were 

 in bloom; among them the exquisite little 

 pimpernel, or poor man's weather - glass. 

 My daily notes are full of complimentary 

 allusions to the weather. Once in a while it 

 rained, and under date of the 6th I find this 



