heard when snow still covered the ground, are now but faintly audible amidst the 

 chorus of louder musicians. All our hopes realized, and we no longer look to the future 

 for our enjoyments, but we now revel in all the pleasures that were so eagerly desired 

 during the dreary winter and in the variable days of early spring. 



A total change has taken place in the aspect of the landscape since the middle of 

 May. The grass in the meadows and the rye and wheat in the fields wave like the 

 billows of the sea, and the glossy corn-leaves, as they tremble in the soft wind, glitter 

 like millions of mirrors in the bright light of the sun. Among the flowers which are 

 now conspicuous in rich woods is the stemless lady's slipper' with its beautiful rosy- 

 purple blossoms, and not far from it we may find the pretty white-veined and reticulated 

 leaf-rosettes of Goodyera repens. The two species of yellow lady's slippers^ are in 

 their full glory now, the elegant flowers burst upon the sight of the rambler as if 

 they had risen up by enchantment. In similar haunts the trientalis, unrivalled in the 

 peculiar delicacy of its flowers, never fails to attra<ft the attention of the lover of 

 nature. This fine plant has an ebony-colored stem and bears a single whorl of pointed 

 leaves, and above this a pretty white flower. The rosy-white flowers of the wild crab- 

 apple have faded away, but diiFerent species of dogwood, wild snowbalP, and white 

 thorns'* are in full flower on the woodland's edge. While we are resting on a carpet of 

 club moss'', we may listen to the enchanting song of the beautiful Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beak, the unrivalled melodies of the Veery, the metallic che-wink of the Ground Robin 

 (Towhee), and the more modest songs of innumerable other birds. In some parts of the 

 country the wild pastures and low grounds abound in rhodoras and azaleas in full flower. 

 The first named plant is a low shrub, its brilliant rose-purple flowers appear late 

 in May or early in June at the extremities of the branches. But the most beautiful of 

 all the flowering shrubs of this month is undoubtedly the kalmia, distributed widely 

 over the Eastern States, with its evergreen leaves. Its fine rose-colored flowers, unique 

 in form and incomparable in beauty, are almost a revelation to the friend of 

 nature. This plant, known in some parts of the country as calico-bush, mountain 

 laurel, American laurel, and spoon-wood, is rendered singularly attractive by the con- 

 trast between its dark green leaves, its rose-purple blossoms of peculiar resplendency, 

 and the whiteness of the flowers of surrounding plants. This shrub by its flowering 

 marks the commencement of summer, and may be considered an apt symbol of the 

 brillant month of June. 



"June is also the month of the' arethusas,— those charming flowers of the peat- 

 meadows, — belonging to a tribe that is mostly too delicate for cultivation. Like the 

 beautifiil: birds of the forest, they were created for nature's own temples." Quite a 

 number of interesting orchids, now in flower, are hidden in the deep mossy dells in 

 the woods, where they seldom feel the direct rays of the sun. All alike they are "con- 

 secrated to solitude and to nature, as if they were designed to cheer the hearts of their, 

 humble votaries with the sight of a thing of beauty that has not been appropriated 

 for the exclusive adornment of the garden and the palace."* 



< Cypripedium acaule. 2 Cypripedium pubescens and C. parviSoram. 3 Viburnum. < Cratxgus. 5 Lycopodium 

 dendroideum. 



* Wilson Flags, "Birds and Seasons of New England." Boston: James Osgood & Co. 1875. 



