PEPACTON 



kingfisher, the chipmunk, the mink, the bobolink, 

 the wood thrush, all in their proper places. There 

 are few bird-poems that combine so much good 

 poetry and good natural history as his "Pewee." 

 Here we have a glimpse of the catbird : 



"In the alders, dank with noonday dews, 

 The restless catbird darts and mews;" 



here, of the cliff swallow : 



"In the autumn, when the hollows 

 All are filled with flying leaves 

 And the colonies of swallows 



Quit the quaintly stuccoed eaves." 



Only the dates are not quite right. The swallows 

 leave their nests in July, which is nearly three 

 months before the leaves fall. The poet is also a 

 little unfaithful to the lore of his boyhood when 

 he says 



"The partridge beats his throbbing drum" 



in midsummer. As a rule, the partridge does not 

 drum later than June, except fitfully during the 

 Indian summer, while April and May are his favor- 

 ite months. And let me say here, for the benefit 

 of the poets who do not go to the woods, that the 

 partridge does not always drum upon a log ; he 

 frequently drums upon a rock or a stone wall, if a 

 suitable log be not handy, and no ear can detect 

 the difference. His drum is really his own proud 

 96 



