I5S 



NATURE'S CALENDAR 



Tyjy iQ and foxglove as we take our way down 



to the creek, in whose pools the white 



lilies are now in bloom, floating un- 

 harmed, the perfection of purity, upon 

 the dark water. As we sit quietly down 

 upon the bank our ears are filled with 

 that hum of insect life which is the voice 

 of midsummer, and a pair of syrphus-flies 

 poise on invisible wings just before our 

 eyes, gleaming as if truly made of pol- 

 ished gold ; and look at that gem hover- 

 ing over the snowy lilies — a humming- 

 bird that whirrs from flower to flower, 

 picking out of their waxen chalices the 

 minute morsels of his insect fare. 



What beauty rises from the dark mud 

 of this weedy pool — rosy lilies, the danc- 

 ing snowflakes of the water ranunculus, 

 heart leaf, yellow cups of other lilies and 

 buttercups, the rich violet purple of the 

 water hyacinth, or pontederia, and along- 

 shore, prince of all the pond -side, the 

 tall, scarlet spikes of the cardinal flower. 

 Here and there over the smooth surface 

 dart and glide the skaters, and, over all, 

 zigzag innumerable dragon-flies, throw- 

 ing metallic reflections, blue, red, green, 

 and bronze from their burnished armor 

 and gauzy wings. 



Creeping about among the floating 

 leaves and slimy weeds are several sorts 

 of delicate spiral snails, the limneids, and 

 others made in a flat coil, the planorbids, 

 which are easily gathered, and whose 

 shells, after the animals have been boiled 



July II 



