166 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



spective harbingers, and she usually accompanies them 

 with peculiar harmonies from the elements and from 

 animated things. Thus, by the croaking of the tree- 

 toad, she announces an approaching shower; by the 

 chirping of the green nocturnal grasshopper, she pro- 

 claims the decline of summer ; but the feathered tribes 

 are nature's favorite sentinels, whom she employs to 

 hferald in the morn. 



If we now take our stand on an eminence, where we 

 can obtain a clear view of the eastern belt of the horizon, 

 a luminous appearance may be observed, forming a semi- 

 circle of dim whitish light around the gate of morning. 

 If a thin veil of clouds overspread the arch, the tints 

 will be dark in proportion to their distances from the 

 hidden source of light. Imagine it divided into circles ; 

 — the inner one will be of a light yellow; the next 

 assumes a tint of gold; beyond that is orange, and as 

 it extends outwards, it passes through regular grada- 

 tions of vermilion, crimson, purple, and violet, until it 

 melts into the azure of the firmament. 



