APRIL AWAKENING. 25 



as those of the robin who has caught the spirit 

 of the occasion in yonder maple. Almost every 

 individual member seems to play on a different 

 instrument. There are ocorina and bag-pipe, pic- 

 colo and cymbal players among them. Occasion- 

 ally a big brother with his protuberant eyes and 

 wide mouth above the green scum, tries to per- 

 form a base accompaniment on his trombone, but 

 it is, at the best, a discordant croak. At inter- 

 vals the toads strike in, and splash the chorus 

 with trills and quavers, which give a pleasant vari- 

 ety to the music of the swamps. Long after the 

 robin has given up his song and gone to sleep, 

 these water-loving minstrels continue the enter- 

 tainment ; for it is a real serenade to the female 

 batrachians, who utter faint peeps of approval, or 

 sit in silence at their star-reflecting windows, far 

 into the night. 



By the pond one is interested in watching the 

 movements of the numerous aquatic creatures. 

 A gentle stamp will cause, as if by an electric 

 touch, hundreds of small circular ripples over the 

 surface. These are produced by the water boat- 

 men and beetles that skurry quickly to the bot- 

 tom. It shows how sensitive they are to the 

 slightest surrounding disturbances. The skaters 

 jumping about and gliding on the water are very 

 curious, with wherry-shaped bodies and long legs. 

 As one drifts by I see six indentations which it 



