WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



some even before they put forth their leaves; and 

 patches of meadow and hill-side grow emerald- 

 green with new grass, and are dotted with delicate 

 blue and white and yellow flowers. The bluebird 

 seeks its mate; the robin has already .found one, 

 and begun its nest; the song-sparrow is carolling 

 to his love from every brush-pile; the -swamp is 

 vocal with the rollicking notes of the crow-black- 

 bird and redwing, and marsh-hawks are again 

 coursing low over the meadows in search of mice 

 and the awakened frogs. 



Such vernal rejoicing is often interrupted, never- 

 theless, by an ice-storm one of the most disagree- 

 able incidents of this month of many moods. A 

 day of rain will come when the temperature is low 

 enough to freeze most of the water as it falls, and 

 the result is that the ground, the windward side of 

 buildings, fences, tree-trunks, and all other exposed 

 objects are soon perfectly glazed, and each leafless 

 twig is incased in ice. When, as frequently hap- 

 pens, such a day and night are succeeded by a 

 clear morning, and the bright but feeble sunlight 

 is reflected from thousands of burnished, crack- 

 ling twigs, as from a forest of glass, the scene is 

 a very striking and beautiful one; but the weight 

 of the accumulated ice often causes vast damage 



88 



