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XXIII. 



OCTOBER 16th. 



Indian Summer. — Peculiar Weather — Supposed Causes. — Lepidoptera. — 

 Freezing of the River. — Winter Wren. — Wasps. — Nest of Leaf-cutting 

 Bee. — Moths. — Snake. — Insects on fallen Leaves. — Pearlfly. — Grakles. 

 — Ignorance of Natural History hurtful to the Farmer. — Anecdote. — 

 Crossbills. — Day-flies. — Caddis-flies. — Torpidity. — Blue Bird. — Frozen 

 Apples. — Effect of Frost in loosening Leaves. — Beech Nuts. — Fruit of 

 the Maple — Of the Birch — Ash — Basswood. 



Charles. — The weather, for a few days past, has been 

 delightful, and more like summer than autumn : if it were 

 not for the nakedness of the leafless trees, we might easily 

 fancy ourselves removed a month or two back in the ca- 

 lendar. 



Father. — Have you not noticed, since this warm wea- 

 ther commenced, a peculiar haze around the horizon, a misti- 

 ness in the atmosphere, which is not common in summer ? 

 there is an indistinctness about distant objects which, in or- 

 dinary weather, are clearly seen ; the sun is " shorn of his 

 beams," and the air appears filled with a light thin smoke. 

 This characterises the " Indian summer," a very remarkable 

 phenomenon, and peculiar, I believe, to North America. It 

 never appears till after the summer has yielded to cold wea- 

 ther, and generally follows a series of wintry days, and often 

 pretty severe frosts. It is hailed with pleasure when it 

 comes, as a slight and brief relaxation from the horrors of 



