EARLY FLOWERS. 105 



bers of a species of brown finch or bunting, (fringilla 

 canadensis,) that join their still more melodious notes 

 to the general medley ; and perhaps at no season of the 

 year are we greeted with a louder chorus than during 

 the latter part of April, when these cheerful birds are 

 migrating to their northern haunts. 



In the latter part of the month the signs of promise 

 that were hung out upon the heavens and displayed 

 upon the landscape, begin to be fulfilled. Flowers are 

 more frequent in our paths through the fields, and the 

 light green plaited leaves are conspicuous in the shrub 

 bery. The song-sparrow is weaving her nest in some 

 grassy knoll at the edge of the wood, the robin has 

 commenced his early morning song, and the bluebird is 

 exploring the hollows of old trees for his summer habi 

 tation. Every warm shower adds new verdure to the 

 plain, and every morning sun opens new tribes of 

 flowers and revives new hosts of sportive insects. The 

 ploughman is already in the field. He has scattered his 

 early seeds upon the ground ; and man and all other 

 creatures are rejoicing in the happy anticipation of that 

 season which annually restores for a brief period the 

 buoyancy and hopefulness of our early years. 



