106 APRIL. 



path, and attended by his wives, Toppa and Partlet. 

 The painted peacock with gaudy plumes unfolded 

 his tail like a bright wheel, enshrouded in his silver 

 feathers, resembling the marks of the hundred eyes 

 of Argus. Among the boughs of the twisted olive, 

 the small birds framed the artful nest, or along the 

 thick hedges, or rejoiced with their merry mates in 

 the tall oaks. In the secret nook, or in the clear 

 windows of glass, the spider full busily wove her sly 

 net to ensnare the gnat or fly. Under the boughs 

 that screen the valley, or within the pale-enclosed 

 park, the nimble deer trooped in ranks, the harts 

 wandered through the thick wood shaws, and the 

 young fawns followed the dappled does. Kids 

 slipped through the briers after the roes, and in the 

 pastures and leas the lambs bleated to their dams. 

 The ringdove coos in the tall copse, the starling 

 whistles her varied descant ; the sparrow chirps in 

 the clefted wall; the goldfinch and linnet fill the 

 skies; the cuckoo cries, the quail twitters; while 

 rivers, shaws, and every dale resound; and the 

 tender branches tremble on the trees, at the song of 

 the birds and the buzzing of the bees." 



LEAFING OF TREES. In Sweden the budding and 

 leafing of the birch-tree is considered as a directory 

 for sowing barley; and as there is something ex- 

 tremely sublime and harmonious in that idea, I 

 flatter myself an account of it will be acceptable. 



Mr. Harold Barck, in his ingenious dissertation 

 upon the foliation of trees, published in the Amoen. 

 Acad, vol. iiL, informs us that the illustrious Linnaeus 



