THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 13 



hearted beau then as now? And the sparrow, the lark, 

 and the goldfinch, birds that seem so indigenous to the 

 open fields and so averse to the woods, — we cannot 

 conceive of their existence in a vast wilderness and 

 without man. 



But to return. The song-sparrow, that universal 

 favorite and firstling of the spring, comes before April, 

 and its simple strain gladdens all hearts. 



May is the month of the swallows and the orioles. 

 There are man)' other distinguished arrivals, indeed 

 nine tenths of the birds are here by the last week in 

 May, yet the swallows and orioles are the most conspic- 

 uous. The bright plumage of the latter seems really 

 like an arrival from the tropics. I see them flash 

 through the blossoming trees, and all the forenoon hear 

 their incessant warbling and wooing. The swallows 

 dive and chatter about the barn, or squeak and build 

 beneath the eaves ; the partridge drums in the fresh 

 sprouting woods ; the long, tender note of the mead 

 lark comes up from the meadow ; and at sun^- 

 every marsh and pond come the ten thousand voices of 

 the hylas. May is the transition month, and exists to 

 connect April and June, the root with the flower. 



With June the cup is full, our hearts are satisfied, 

 there is no more to be desired. The perfection of the 

 season, among other things, has brought the pi 

 of the song and plumage of the birds. The ;. 

 artists are all here ; and the expectations excited by 

 the robin and the song-sparrow are fully justified. The 



