THE MARSHES IN APRIL 



glassy floor. Marsh-spiders stretch silky 

 threads, filmy with dew, from reed to reed, 

 and this tether sways in silvery lightness with 

 every wandering gust. The little black rails 

 dodge in and out of the rushes, their rapid, 

 noiseless movements giving only a hint of 

 their passing. Further inshore, where the 

 denser growth tangles into a brake, the hol- 

 low, guttural cry of a bittern comes mourn- 

 fully out at intervals. 



Sometimes a red-winged blackbird perches 

 on a cat-tail stalk, and sends out a joyous 

 whistle of the most care-free abandon. Some- 

 times the cow-blackbirds fly over in long 

 flocks, without a sound. And at odd times 

 the crow-blackbirds, the red-wings and the 

 cow-birds sweep across in a scattered mass, 

 chattering and clacking, to spread suddenly in 

 irregularly fan-shaped curves, and light when 

 they reach the trees beyond. Occasionally a 

 journeying " flicker " is seen flying from 

 one point of woods to another across the 

 marshes. His strong wings flail the atmos- 

 phere with regular strokes, his curving flight, 

 with its up-and-down dips, soon covers the 

 distance between, and perched on a topmost 



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