CHAPTER XV. 



PEWEES AND THE HOODED WARBLER. 



IT is a sunny evening on the 15th of May, one of those bright 

 and tender evenings of the opening spring, when the 

 birth of soft foliage and early flowers reminds one of in- 

 fancy ; when neither the chill of the April atmosphere nor 

 the damp dews of the dog-days chase the rays of the set- 

 ting sun; but balmy airs, free, as yet, from annoying insects, 

 and redolent of forest mould and fragrant flowers, bring 

 healing with every breath. 



Vegetation always affords a great variety of the tints and 

 shades of green, so that a strongly contrasted fabric might 

 be woven without introducing any other color; but these 

 shades are never so varied as in early spring; besides, many 

 other colors are then intermixed. The beeches have a tinge 

 of yellow, the willows and poplars are hoary, the maples and 

 beech saplings are reddish, the ashes have a dash of deep 

 purple or brown, the green of the wheat fields differs from 

 that of the meadows in short, next to the brilliant effects 

 of autumn are the softer tints of early spring. 



THE WOOD PEWEE. 



As I enter one of our luxuriant tracts of woodland, I hear 

 the plaintive note of the Wood Pewee (Contopus virens), 

 a beautiful representative of the Flycatcher. Strongly re- 

 sembling the rough, guttural and somewhat hurried sylla- 



