jflD^ Mtnter aarDen 



wondering curiosity with which the birds, 

 just dropping down from the North, go 

 about in the golden weather, silently flit- 

 ting from tree to tree, peering askance 

 amid the dusky foliage, evidently affected 

 by the change of surroundings. They 

 behave much as do the human tourists 

 who come a Httle later on their limited 

 railway-tickets. Everything is theirs for 

 the time being. They chatter when they 

 meet, invade all private closes, and pres- 

 ently disappear, going still farther south- 

 ward, even beyond the great Gulf. 



It would probably be best to make the 

 journey into the South a desultory, hesi- 

 tating flight, lingering by the way in all 

 the attractive places, thus softly stealing 

 through the climatic change ; but there is 

 something exhilarating in a sudden plunge 

 from boreal cold to an atmosphere of balm 

 and bloom-dust. Some people, who flock 

 and flutter hurriedly round the swift loop 

 of a winter tour, find the warm weather 

 enervating. It has the effect of a light 

 yet heady wine on me. No sooner have 

 I passed through the palmetto-shaded 

 4 



