ACCORDING TO SEASON 



out of sight the framework of the shrub. The 

 thrill of excitement caused by this experience was 

 not due, perhaps, so much to my admiration of its 

 beauty or appreciation of its, to me, unusualness, 

 as to the interest inspired by the flower which 

 had moved Emerson to write one of his loveliest 

 poems. 



In May the birds become so numerous that it 

 would be impossible to describe any great num- 

 ber of them in a book not devoted to the subject. 



Birds of For many birds May is the most important month 



ay of the year, for it is their time of nesting. Their 



song now approaches its greatest perfection. 



Early in the month it expresses the rapture of 



courtship, later the joy of possession. 



From swampy meadows come the gurgling 

 notes of the red-winged blackbirds, whose bright 

 shoulder-bars flash above the gleaming grasses. 



Swallows The cat-bird mews within the shrubbery that 

 skirts the lawn. Under the eaves of the barn the 

 cliff-swallows take possession of their curious bot- 

 tle-like nests, which have done service from year 

 to year. The barn-swallows prefer to go inside 

 and build upon the rafters, while the tree-swallows 

 look out for holes in trees and posts. On or near 



Other the ground in swampy thickets the Maryland yel- 



btrds low-throat builds its nest, while from the forked 



branch of some low tree the red-eyed vireo hangs 

 its cup-like cradle. 



74 



