192 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



young, and congregate in large flocks upon the marshes; 

 and as we stroll along the sea-shore, we are often agree- 

 ably startled by the sudden twittering flight of these 

 graceful birds, aroused from their haunts by our unex- 

 pected intrusion. Noav and then in our sauntering 

 tour, our ears are greeted by the harsh voice of the king- 

 fisher, as he sits motionless upon a branch that juts over 

 the tide, watching his finny prey ; and the stakedriver, 

 a species of heron, is roused, from his retreat, and with 

 that peculiar note from which he has derived his 

 name, pursues his awkward flight into the neighboring 

 swamp. 



The lowland valleys, during the early part of this 

 month, are covered with their proudest luxuriance. 

 The red fimbriated orchis rears its elegant plumes above 

 the paler flowers of the arethusa ; the scarlet lobelia 

 gleams like some flower of a brighter clime, around the 

 borders of the rivulets ; and the orange-colored heads 

 of the butterfiy-weed, and the purple blossoms of the 

 Indian hemp, meet our sight, at almost every turn in 

 our wanderings. Long rows of the trumpet-weed 

 border the drains and brook-sides, looking proudly over 

 the humble osier-bushes, and the purple blossoms that 

 terminate their tall perpendicular stalks, may be seen 

 nodding in the breeze like the plumes of a marching 

 company of infantry. Sometimes when rambling in 

 deep woods, which have never been reduced by the 

 hand of cultivation, in certain choice and secluded 

 places — the cloisters of the wilderness — the white 

 orchis may occasionally be disqovered, each flower 

 bearing resemblance to, a delicate female with a white 

 ruff and turban. The plant is almost parasitic, having 

 its roots imbedded in the peat mosses, and not extend- 

 ing into the soil. When we meet these little flowers of 



