WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



music, and he says keerie ? cocking a red eye 

 inquiringly, and then falls busily at picking minute 

 insects off a sticky young hemlock cone, as if 

 he thought he really must attend a little while to 

 business, despite the charm of this soft morning, 

 luring towards the " pleasant land of Idlesse." 

 But presently he begins again " Chee, chee ! ter 

 whee I rit rit ! cheery I pz'teet I cheery ! terree I 

 chezer wheel ru-rul" and so on, sweetly o'er and 

 o'er. 



May is the month of juvenescence. Infancy 

 is passed. Nature, as a young giant, feels its 

 strength. The seed-time and sprouting and prep- 

 aration of winter and early spring are passed, 

 and the gathered powers are now to be exercised 

 that fruition may follow. There is a sturdy re- 

 joicing at the putting forth of effort. The living, 

 growing world seems eager and enthusiastic. 

 It is this sense of arousing, and of beginning in 

 earnest the activity of the year, that distinguishes 

 this month out-of-doors, inspiring all who go 

 abroad, and communicating to them the impulses 

 of nature. 



Now is the era of yellow flowers, as was April 

 of white ones. Dandelions still bejewel the lawn. 

 Out of the lush meadow rise great, globular tufts 



162 



