JUNE. 153 



toil or harassed with care, spreads out to gladden them 

 with renewed hopes and to warm their hearts with grati- 

 tude and benevolence. 



June is, of all months of the year, the most delightful 

 period of woodland minstrelsy. With the early birds 

 that still continue their warbling, the summer birds have 

 joined their louder and more melodious strains. Early 

 in the morning, when the purple light of dawn first 

 awakens us from sleep, and while the red rays that 

 fringe the eastern arches of the sky with a beautiful trem- 

 ulous motion are fast brightening into a more dazzling 

 radiance, we hear from the feathered tribe the commence- 

 ment of their general hymn of gladness. There is first 

 an occasional twittering, then a single performance from 

 some early waker, then a gradual joining of new voices, 

 until at length there is a full chorus of song. Every few 

 minutes some new voice joins in the concert, as if aroused 

 by the beginners and excited by emulation, until thou- 

 sands of melodious voices seem to be calling us out from 

 sleep to the enjoyment of life and liberty. 



After the sun has risen nearly to meridian height, the 

 greater number of the birds that helped to swell the an- 

 them of morn discontinue their songs, and a comparative 

 silence prevails during the heat of the day. The vireo, 

 however, warbles incessantly, at all hours of daylight, 

 from the lofty tree-tops in the heart of the villages ; ' the 

 oriole is still piping at intervals among the blossoms of 

 the fruit-trees ; and the merry bobolink never tires during 

 the heat of the day, while singing and chattering, as in 

 ecstasy, above and around the sitting-place of his wedded 

 mate. At the hour of the sun's decline the birds renew 

 their songs ; but the more familiar species that linger 

 about our orchards and gardens are far less musical at 

 sunset than at sunrise. I suppose they may be annoyed 

 by the presence of men, who are more accustomed to be 



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