APRIL 



receive from intelligent persons who have 

 seen or heard something in their line very 

 curious or entirely new, and who set the 

 man of science agog by a description of the 

 supposed novelty, — a description that gen- 

 erally fits the facts of the case about as well 

 as your coat fits the chairback. Strange 

 and curious things in the air, and in the 

 water, and in the earth beneath, are seen 

 every day except by those who are looking 

 for them, namely, the naturalists. When 

 Wilson or Audubon gets his eye on the un- 

 known bird, the illusion vanishes, and your 

 phenomenon turns out to be one of the 

 commonplaces of the fields or woods. 



A prominent April bird, that one does 

 not have to go to the woods or away from 

 his own door to see and hear, is the hardy 

 and ever-welcome meadow-lark. What a 

 twang there is about this bird, and what 

 vigor ! It smacks of the soil. It is the 

 winged embodiment of the spirit of our 

 spring meadows. What emphasis in its 

 "z-d-t, z-d-t," and what character in its 

 long, piercing note ! Its straight, tapering, 

 sharp beak is typical of its voice. Its 

 note goes like a shaft from a crossbow ; it 

 is a little too sharp and piercing when near 

 77 



