WOODS OF AMERICA. 129 



shadows on the ground, the warhling voices of innu- 

 merable birds are heard, while the choristers are 

 themselves unseen, and continue without intermis- 

 sion till six or seven in the morning. The fea- 

 thered tribes of America are neither silent, nor in- 

 harmonious. Many of them are, on the contrary, 

 peculiarly melodious, ' and the bursting forth of 

 their sweet voices, from amid the perfect stillness 

 of the forest, is inexpressibly affecting. 



Beautiful, too, is the transition from the repose and 

 silence of an arctic winter, to the animated bustle of 

 the summer which prevails in the high latitudes of 

 North America. The leafless branches are suddenly 

 reclothed with verdure, beautiful flowers simulta- 

 neously open, and every succeeding day welcomes 

 the arrival of feathered songsters to swell the chorus 

 with their plumage as gay and unimpaired as when 

 they gave animation to the deep-green forests of 

 tropical regions. Hard must be the heart of that 

 man, and callous to the best feelings of our nature, 

 who can contemplate unmoved the exhilarating 

 scene, who can look upon the opening leaves and 

 glorious flowers, and listen to the joyous song of in- 

 numerable birds, without lifting up his heart in 

 gratitude to Him who created and sustains the 

 wonders by which he is surrounded. " The most 

 verdant lawns and cultivated glades of Europe," 

 justly observe the authors of Fauni Boreali Ame- 

 ricani, " fail in producing that exhilaration, and 

 buoyancy of mind, which we have experienced in 

 treading the wilds of Arctic America, when their 

 snowy covering has been replaced by an infant, but 

 vigorous, vegetation. It is impossible for a traveller 



