PART II. 



IN SPRING. 



il iftoon. 



OF the thirteen moons of the year, not one is 

 of such significance to the outdoor naturalist as 

 that of April. I think that there can be no doubt 

 but that a clear sky, rather than temperature, is 

 the important factor in the migratory movement 

 of our birds that come from the South in spring. 

 Certainly the morning of April I4th, of this year, 

 was cool enough to have retarded birds sensitive 

 to cold. Ice formed on shallow ponds and a 

 heavy frost rested upon all the upland fields ; yet 

 at sunrise the old beeches were alive with those 

 beautiful birds, the yellow red-polled warblers. 

 Nor were they numb or dumb. There was not 

 an instant that they rested, nor a moment that 

 they did not sing. The April moon, too, has the 

 merit of brightening the marshes, when in fullest 

 force the frog-world comes to the fore, and per- 



