172 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



their song. But the notes of birds in general are not so 

 incessant as they were before sunrise. One by one 

 they discontinue their lays, until at high noon the bob- 

 olink and the warbling flycatcher are almost the only 

 vocalists to be heard in the fields. 



Among the agreeable accompaniments of a summer 

 morning walk are the odors from the woods, the herb- 

 age, and the flowers. At no other hour of the day is 

 the atmosphere so fragrant with their emanations. The 

 blossoms of almost every species of plant are just un- 

 folding their petals, after the sleep of night, and their 

 various offerings of incense are now poured out at the 

 ruddy shrine of morning. The .objects of sight and 

 sound are generally the most expressive in a descrip- 

 tion of nature, because seeing and hearing are the iHtel- 

 lectual senses. But the perfumes that abound in dif- 

 ferent situations are hardly less suggestive than sights 

 and sounds. Let a person who has always been 

 familiar with green fields and babbling brooks, and who 

 has suddenly become blind, be led out under the open 

 sky, and how would the various perfumes from vegeta- 

 tion suggest to him all the individual scenes and objects 

 which have been imprinted on his memory ! 



There is a peculiar feeling of hope and cheerfulness 

 that comes to us on a summer morning walk, and sends 

 its happy influence over all the rest of the day. The 

 pleasant stillness, apart from the stirring population ; 

 the amber glow of heaven that beams from underneath 

 successive arches of crimson and vermilion, constantly 

 widening and brightening into the full glory of sun- 

 rise ; the consciousness of having gained an hour of the 

 time usually devoted to sleep ; above all, the melodious 

 concert of warblers from every bush and tree, constantly 

 changing its character by the silence of the first per- 



