OCTOBER 



31 



FRANK BOLLES, 1856. 



I see a pretty large flock of tree sparrows, very 

 lively and tame, pursuing each other and drifting 

 along a bushy fence and ditch like driving snow. 

 Two pursuing each other would curl upward like 

 a breaker in the air, and drop into the hedge 



again. 



THOREAU: Autumn. 



There is something witch-like in the appearance 

 of the witch-hazel, which blossoms late in October 

 and in November, with its irregular and angular 

 spray and petals like furies' hair, or small ribbon 

 streamers. Its blossoming, too, at this irregular 

 period, when other shrubs have lost their leaves, 

 as well as blossoms, looks like witches' craft. Cer- 

 tainly it blooms in no garden of man's. There is 

 a whole fairy-land on the hillside where it grows. 

 THOREAU: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack 

 Rivers. 



