NATURE S CALENDAR gg 



violet, hastening to complete the duty of May 9 



blossoming before the weeds shall smoth- 

 er them. Wild indigo, the polished but- 

 tercups, the marsh marigold, beloved of 

 the gold flies, and many another, reward 

 the seeker after this rich hue, yet by no 

 means exhaust the catalogue that re- 

 wards him who goes a-Maying with a 

 •' botany-box " slung over his shoulder 

 and a trowel in his belt. 



In May the bluefish first appear and 

 ascend salt-water bays, young ones some- 

 times going up the Hudson as far as 

 West Point — but this is later in the 

 season. Spring mackerel and sea-bass 

 begin to be sold in the New York mark- 

 ets also by the middle of the month. 

 The kingfish arrives, and sheepshead and 

 mackerel become abundant ofT New York 

 with great suddenness, seeming to have 

 come in droves from the South, and to 

 be feeding principally on small marine 

 crustaceans. In a similar way scup, or 

 porgies, are seen in large schools, which 

 increase towards the end of the month, 

 and resort to the eel-grass to spawn. 

 Menhaden arrive, the shad-fishing con- 

 tinues through the month, and ale-wives 

 become abundant. 



Young perch are already abroad in the 

 South, but in the Delaware River and 

 northward they are just spawning, as also 

 are the white perch, and in the West the 

 pike -perch. This is the month, too, 

 when the great, ferocious raascalonge 



