WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 



Zonotrichia albicollis Bonaparte. 



Plate XXIV. Fig. 3. 



Spring's little lyrist, the White-throated Spanow, 

 Trilled to me dainty triolets this morn, 

 Songs that might make despondence less forlorn ; 

 So forth I fared, from chamber dark and narrow, 

 To a warm, sunny hill that plough and harrow 

 "With their remorseless iron n'er had torn, 

 , For signs that Spring again was newly bom — 



Spring whom I love as lover his "winsome marrow." 

 The feathered minstrel had foretold me true. 

 Nor hope had waked with a deceitful voice, 

 Nor sung through merely vanity of art ; 

 For there were liverworts both white and blue, 

 That, smiling, did at the new birth rejoice. 

 And cheered with wordless eloquence my heart. 



Washington, D. C, March 8, 1879. W. L. Shobmaker. 



J PRING in the northern parts of our country is quite different from that season in 

 the central and southern portions, though the autumn time is almost everywhere 

 pretty much the same. October is beautiful in its bright colors in Wisconsin and New 

 England, in Missouri and North Carolina, in Texas a'nd Florida. In the North spring 

 lingers long, and it takes at least two months before the time of hopes and disappoint- 

 ments is over. Our ideas of May being derived in part from the descriptions of Euro- 

 pean poets and naturalists, abound in many pleasant fallacies. May, at least in our 

 Northern States, is exceedingly changeable. It is a pleasant and weary prolongation of 

 hopes, frequently interrupted by days and often weeks of w^intry gloom. Though Nature 

 is not yet clothed in -the ftilness of her beauty, she is in many respects lovelier and more 

 enchanting in May than she will ever be in the course of the year. 



In this light we have to view^ the month of May in the northern parts of our 

 country, no matter how beautiful and promising it begins. In the present year (1894-) 

 the first two weeks were exceedingly beautiful, while rainy, stormy, and cold weather 

 prevailed during the last two weeks. Several sharp night frosts occurred, and the deli- 

 cate summer birds, like the Scarlet Tanager and others, suffered severely. On May 9 in 

 the gardens of Milwaukee, the apple trees were almost in full bloom, with flower 

 trusses of every shade of color from almost carmine to pure white. The Siberian crab, the 

 pear, plum, and cherry trees were also in frill flower. Beautiful Wood Warblers, on their 

 way to more northern regions, were busily engaged in searching for insects among the 

 flowers of the fruit trees. Their sprightly songs were heard on all sides, while they were 

 running, hopping, creeping, darting, and flying around among the masses of flowers. 

 In the Hospital grounds across the street the large apple trees swarmed with birds. 

 From the windows of my study I saw three beautiful males of the Scarlet Tanager, and 

 the loud, melodious, and flute-like song was heard especially in the quiet and sunny 

 morning hours. The sweet notes of the Baltimore Oriole, of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 

 and the Indigo Bunting were also heard on this bright and mild day. Usually these 



