io6 Etc artien's Storj?. 



lighter and varied instrumentation of the lesser 

 reptilta. His nocturne brings the plash of water 

 and the scent of water-lilies nearer to me. It is 

 a fluviatile expression, the fitting utterance of 

 ponds and swamps. The cicada emphasizes no 

 more tensely the heat of the midsummer noon, 

 than the great batrachian the serenity of the 

 summer night. His voice fits into the landscape 

 like an audible shade a sonorous emanation of 

 coolness and departed day. 



The trill of the toad is the prelude to spring, 

 as the cricket's croon is the farewell to summer. 

 How drowsily the chorus floats up from the low- 

 lands a summons to the early bees and flies to 

 seek the precocious flowers! The blue scillas, 

 the hepaticas, and the cowslips are swarming 

 with the smaller bees and muscce. Where do 

 they come from in such swarms ; and where do 

 they all house themselves when the inevitable 

 change of temperature puts a stop to cross-fer- 

 tilization ? A few warm days have done won- 

 ders toward starting delayed vegetation, each of 

 the spring flowers apparently trying to outstrip 

 the other. The pushing and striving for warmth 

 and sunlight always seem to me among the 

 most marvelous things of nature the embryo 

 seed, the rising stalk, the unfolding corolla, the 

 perfect flower ! 



