SPRING 



in her hurried search, came suddenly 

 upon the Neighbour, and after sizing 

 him up with one eye through a chink 

 in the roots of an upturned tree, 

 decided he was quite harmless, came 

 around quite close and talked in a 

 familiar little chirp. Birds of many 

 species mingled together searching for 

 food on the ground and in the branches 

 of the trees. Their varied songs blended 

 in a continuous chorus of joy. And 

 what a scene it was at this time when 

 the whole woods were breaking into 

 leaf. The long, glossy, russet- jacketed 

 buds of the beech were unfolding in 

 fragile pairs of silver-green loveliness. 

 In the light of the morning sun the deli- 

 cate transparent green forms, fringed 

 with silver hairs, seemed to cast a faint 

 radiance about them. On a few of the 

 trees, now further advanced, the beau- 

 tiful blossoms appeared like little balls 

 of red and yellow silk, adding their 

 colour to the general scheme of tinsel 

 and lace. 



Beneath the filigree of foliage the 

 leafy floor of the woods showed groups 

 of tall white trilliums, while mossy 

 29 



