AN INCIDENT OF SPRING 



The long arranged-for rendezvous and spring-opening of the hepaticas is near when the 

 fox-sparrow arrives for his brief dalliance, as he fares northward, and, though sparingly musical, 

 he does not wholly conceal his elation as he scatters the leaves recklessly about. The towhee 

 soon joins him, more vigorous still, more joyous and open hearted, with an air of proprietorship 

 and domesticity well befitting a summer resident. The sunlight then awakens the hepatica 

 buds and from a cluster of mottled leaves with fuzzy brown stems the blossoms, white and 

 pink and lavender tinted, appear. It is the earliest votive offering of the woods. 



