NATURE'S CALENDAR 



June 2 conspicuous during the wintry half of the 



year, is now brilliant and brave in a suit 

 of sable and gold. The bobolink is an- 

 other example. 



The singing of the birds is now at its 

 climax, too — the crowning grace of this 

 sweetest month of the year. How much 

 of the joyousness of June is due to their 

 melody ! How it welcomes the rising of 

 the day upon a blooming and odorous 

 world with glorious matins, and ushers in 

 the evening with vesper hymns ! But 

 every hour of this happy season is ring- 

 ing with bird music, as it is redolent of 

 the perfume of flowers. One hears, first 

 of all, at the earliest gray intimation of 

 dawn, the cheerful summons of the robin. 

 The phoebe is quickest to make response 

 to this reveille, but it is hardly light be- 

 fore all the others are awake and in tune. 

 From the borders of the distant wood 

 come the rollicking whistle of the cardi- 

 nal and the staccato notes of that other 

 "redbird," the fiery, black-winged tana- 

 ger, while shrill exclamations from flick- 

 ers and oven-birds and redstarts strike 

 through the softer, more continuous mel- 

 ody of the thrushes. In the deeper 

 woods, at sunrise, the illumined arches 

 ' of the trees are vivid with the gay coats 



and pleasant chatter of warblers, fly- 

 catchers, and titmice. The meadows and 

 pasture-lands echo to the jolly roundelay 

 of the song sparrow, the prattling of field 

 sparrows and indigo -birds, while the 



