WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



where the last ice is now melting, and left to be 

 reclaimed by patient Nature, who never becomes 

 discouraged when men 'destroy her work, but per- 

 sistently seizes the first opportunity to repair the 

 damage done and restore the uniform wildness? 



After a light snow in March these trails stand 

 out with great distinctness and reveal themselves, 

 where in summer they could hardly be traced. 

 Now they offer the best footing, but lead nowhither. 

 Whenever we step out of them we trip and stumble, 

 our clothing is seized by innumerable detaining 

 thorn-fingers, and the soil, left spongy by the 

 frost, sinks elastic and oozy beneath our tread. 



Poking aside the leaves and grass on this warm 

 hill -side, where spherical swarms of minute flies 

 are going through a mazy dance in the air, many 

 herbs may be found already green and making 

 ready to flower in the earliest spring, such as the 

 hepatica, the cinquefoil, violet, and strawberry; 

 but most of the leaves and runners of the last are 

 varnished with rich burnt-brown tints as though 

 japanned. 



In the swollen but crystal-clear brooks, flowing 

 at the foot of the slope among the weeds with a 

 gentle, tinkling sound, the aquatic ranunculus and 

 the water-cress are glowing with emerald foliage, 



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