132 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



order to present at all times the greatest amount of 

 beauty to the eye, and to guard us from all that weari- 

 ness that is sure to foUow the long continuance of one 

 unchangeable source of pleasure. 



There is manifestly some connection between the 

 tints of the half developed spring foliage, and those we 

 observe in the decline of the year. The leaves of 

 nearly all the trees and shrubs that are brightly colored 

 in autumn, present a similar variety of tints in their 

 tender-plaited foliage in May. This is very remarkable 

 in the different species of the oak, whose half-developed 

 leaves are deeply marked with purple, violet, and yel- 

 low stains, that fade entirely out as the leaf ripens and 

 expands. Similar hues may be observed in the tender 

 branches of many shrubs, as in those of the sumach, 

 before they are hardened into wood. The young leaves 

 of the whortleberry bushes, of the cornels, the sumachs, 

 and viburnums, all brightly tinted in autumn, with pur- 

 ple, crimson, and orange, exhibit lighter shades of the 

 same colors in their half expanded foliage. 



The locust, on the contrary, unmarked by a single 

 tint in the autumn, is seen arrayed in a light verditure 

 at this season, unmixed with any other hues. The wil- 

 lows that incline to yellow after the harvest, show, in 

 their vernal leaf, the same yellow tinge, that gives them 

 a remarkably lively hue. Their golden aments add to 

 this brilliancy, which is also in harmony with their light 

 green and silvery spray. The birches have the same 

 brilliant verdure, contrasted with the dark purple of 

 their small branches, that renders their hues the more 

 distinct and beautiful. It is all these different tenden- 

 cies in the hues of the expanding foliage, that afford 

 the woods such a charming variety of shades during 

 the present month ; and it seems to be the design of 



