278 THE SILENT FOREST. 



attacks as the night wears on. The shrill voices 

 of innumerable crickets, the croaking of frogs, and 

 the continual hum of other insects, keep up a 

 perpetual serenade long after darkness has co- 

 rered the earth. 



The tuneful songsters ceased their warbling, 

 /nd the woods no longer resounded with the 

 sharp strokes of the woodpecker ; but the night- 

 hawk was on the wing, and darted swiftly to and 

 fro after the moths, which at that hour flit about 

 in great numbers. The air becomes redolent 

 with the fragrance of numberless flowering shrubs, 

 which seem to emit a double perfume towards- 

 the close of day. The evening deepens into 

 twilight, the twilight darkens into night, and the 

 stars with their mild radiance seem as if they 

 strove to eclipse the lingering rays of sunset. 

 At length the mighty forest becomes silent, and 

 no sound reaches our ears save the occasional 

 chirping of a cricket, the dismal hooting of the 

 horned howl, the howling of troops of jackals, or 

 the melancholy booming of the great hill-monkey. 



