SUMMER. 



ears. Certainly this yellow-throat's utterance 

 might have been distinctly heard a quarter of a 

 mile away. Such shrill whistling is no child's 

 play, either. Every feather of the bird was 

 rumpled, the tail slightly spread, the wings partly 

 uplifted, and the body swayed up and down as 

 the notes, seven of them, were screeched I can 

 think of no more expressive word. It was not 

 musical ; and yet this bird has long been ranked, 

 to my mind, as one of our most pleasing song- 

 sters. It needs a few rods' distance however, to 

 smooth away the rough edges. 



But the great point gained in the day's out- 

 ing was to find that even the carrion-flower 

 could be put to such good use. It makes a capi- 

 tal observatoiy, wherein and wherefrom to study 

 the life of the open meadows. To these Nature- 

 built shelters you are always welcome; the 

 latch-string is always hanging out, and if per- 

 chance you do not share its single room with 

 many a creature that loves the shade at noontide, 

 and, so while away many an hour in choicest 

 company, you may lie at its open door and 

 watch the strange procession that forever passes 

 by. It may be a mink, a mouse, or a musk-rat 

 may hurry by, bound on some errand that piques 

 your curiosity. A lazy turtle may waddle to 

 your den and gaze in blank astonishment at you ; 

 and, better than all else, the pretty garter snakes 



