134 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



among the leaves of the forest trees, which are the 

 crowning glory of autumn, yet the present month is 

 more abundant in contrasts than any other period. 

 These contrasts increase in beauty and variety until 

 about the first of June. In early May, set apart from 

 the general nakedness of the w"oods, may be seen, here 

 and there, a clump of willows full of bright golden 

 aments, maples with buds, blossoms, and foliage of 

 crimson, and interspersed among them, junipers, hem- 

 locks, and other evergreens, that stand out from their 

 assemblages, like the natives of another clime. As 

 the month advances, while these contrasts remain, new 

 ones are continually appearing, as one tree after another 

 assumes its vernal drapery, each exhibiting a tint 

 peculiar not only to the species, but often to the indi- 

 vidual and the situation, until hardly two trees in the 

 whole wood are alike in color. As the foliage ripens, 

 the different shades of green become more thoroughly 

 blended into a single uniform tint. But ere the process 

 is completed, the fruit-trees have expanded their blos- 

 soms, and have brought a new spectacle of contrasts 

 into view. First of all, the peach-trees with their bright 

 pink flowers, that appear before the leaves, and cause 

 the tree to resemble a single and uniform bouquet : 

 then the pear-trees, with corols of perfect whiteness, 

 internally fringed with brown anthers, like long dark 

 eyelashes, that give them almost the countenance of 

 life ; then the cherry-trees, with their pure white blos- 

 soms, thickly enveloped in green foliage ; and last of 

 all, the apple-trees, with blossoms of every variety of 

 shade, between a bright crimson or purple and a pure 

 white, all come forth, one after another, until the whole 

 landscape seems to be wreathed in bloom. 



During the last week in May, were you to stand on 



