NATURE AND THE POETS. 125 



forming, with that of the high-hole, one of the three 

 or four most characteristic field sounds of our spring ; 

 the happy gold-finch, circling round and round in 

 midsummer with that peculiar undulating flight and 

 calling per-chick j -o-pee, per-chiclc f -o-pee, at each open- 

 ing and shutting of the wings, or later leading her 

 plaintive brood among the thistle-heads by the road- 

 side ; the little indigo-bird, facing the torrid sun of 

 August and singing through all the livelong summer 

 day ; the contented musical soliloquy of the vireo, 

 like the whistle of a boy at his work, heard through 

 all our woods from May to September : 



" Pretty green worm, where are you? 

 Dusky-winged moth, how fare you, 

 When wind and rain are in the tree? 

 Cheeryo, cheerehly, chee, 

 Shadow and sun one are to me. 

 Mosquito and gnat, beware you, 

 Saucy chipmunk, how dare you 

 Climb to my nest in the maple-tree, 

 And dig up the corn 

 At noon and at morn ? 

 Cheeryo, cheerebly, chee." 



Or the phcebe-bird, with her sweet April call and 

 mossy nest under the bridge or woodshed, or under 

 the shelving rocks ; or the brown thrasher mock- 

 ing thrush calling half furtively, half archly from 

 the tree-top, back in the bushy pastures : " Croquet, 

 r r oquet, hit it, hit it, oome to me, come to me, tight 

 a., tight it, you 're out, you 're out," with many musi- 

 cal interludes ; or the cheewink, rustling the leaves 

 Mid peering under the bushes at you : or the pretty 



