EARLY WILD FLOWERS, CATKINS. 17 



old-gold-yellow catkins appearing with the leaves, 

 which, when young, are velvety and of a rich olive 

 hue, and fruit capsules tapering to a very long slender 

 beak ; this last species is common on both dry and 

 wet ground, while the other two are more frequently 

 found on the borders of swamps. 



Now that we are in the vicinity of the catkin-dec- 

 orated swamp we must not pass it without pausing to 

 listen to the sweet piping voices of the little " peep- 

 ers " {Ilyla Pielceringii) ; these .tiny ocher-yellow- 

 brown, smooth-skinned frogs are scarcely an inch 

 long, yet about the first of April, when at five in the 

 afternoon the orchestra is in full chorus, their shrill, 

 ear-piercing notes have no equal in all musical nature, 

 both as to quality and quantity. The first song of 

 spring is either that of the bluebird or Pickering's 

 frog ; * it is mere chance which we will hear first. 

 We can scarcely see the little " old-gold " creatures, 

 for only their bulgy eyes and the ti2)8 of their noses 

 are above the surface of the pond, and if we approach 

 the margin these instantly disappear. They are not 

 always in the water, though, for we might be fortu- 

 nate enough to catch a glimpse of one perched on an 



* The frog called Acrii gryllus also sings quite as early. Ac- 

 cording to an old saying, the peepers must be silenced thrice by 

 the frost before the spring weather comes to stay. As a rule, they 

 sing when the mercury stands between 50° and 60°. 

 3 



