The Chorus of the Forest 



of A\liite oak-leaf buds co\ers a tree with a pale, 

 silvery ])iukish effect that is lovely and very showy; 

 much more attractive than the flowers. All vari- 

 eties of acorns are interestiTii)- with their shiny hulls, 

 ])ointe(l ti])s, and flat bases that flt into their rough 

 cups securely, luitil the nuts droj), or else at ma- 

 turity are shaken out by the Avind. Few of the 

 cups fall luitil pushed off l)y the growth of tlie 

 following sj^ring. These little cups, clinging to 

 a tree all ^\'inter, make it a])])ear as if it might be 

 a table spread for a fairies' tea party. The leaves 

 of oak, and also beech, hang with the same te- 

 nacity, and in winter days of hoar-frost or drift- 

 ino- snow they form the most beautiful fringv 

 and mossy sjjrays among the branches. 



There are U\o ])eculiarities about the oak that 

 as yet science has failed to explain satisfactorily: 

 why it is that all through the fcn-est, field, and 

 M'oods these big trees so freciuently die in the very 

 top branches — a death that too often spreads to 

 the roots ; and ■s^hy they are more frequently struck 

 by lightning than any other tree. Government re- 

 ports tell us they are, but they neglect to state the 

 reason. 



These and other large trees of the forest some- 

 times deceive the lumbermen who fell them by be- 

 ing a mere shell, and so they are left whei'e they 

 are cut. But nothing is ever useless, and birds and 

 animals are quick to take possession of anything 



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