KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



149 



tiful, intelligent, and interesting birdj and 

 does not deserve the popular odium which 

 Milton— it may be justly as a poet, but most 

 unjustly as a naturalist — 'has affixed to it. 

 It produces usually three, seldom four young." 

 Mr. Low says it " is very frequent " in Ork- 

 ney, " both in salt and fresh water ; continues 

 all the year living on fish, of which it de- 

 stroys great numbers. The cormorant seems 

 to have but little other concern than how to 

 eat enough ; it is, indeed, surprising what 

 quantities of fish it will gorge itself with, 

 and, when it has tilled itself to the throat, it 

 retires to some point, where it sits till hun- 

 ger compels it to the water again." I have 

 seen cormorants at the entrance of the 

 Cromarty Frith, and on various parts of the 

 coast, as far south as the Frith of Forth, on 

 the rocky islands of which they are not un- 

 common. Some rocks off Seafield Tower, 

 near Kirkaldy, are a favorite resting-place 

 with this and our other species, as are several 

 of the rocky islets farther up the frith. Mr. 

 Selby describes its nests as examined by him 

 on the Fern Islands. Whether there be any 

 breeding-places farther south or not, indi- 

 viduals are seen and occasionally procured 

 along the eastern and southern coasts ; but 

 it does not appear to become numerous until 

 we arrive on the coasts of AVales, where 

 Montagu says he has seen " an insulated rock 

 covered with their nests, which are composed 

 of sticks and sea- weed." From thence, north- 

 ward, they appear to be more numerous. 



It occurs equally on the coasts of the 

 continent of Europe, extending as far as the 

 Mediterranean. M. Temminck states its 

 occurrence even in the Ganges. In North 

 America, according to Mr. Audubon, it is 

 rarely seen farther south than the extreme 

 limits of Maryland, becomes more plentiful 

 from Chesapeake Bay eastward, and is abun- 

 dant on the coasts of the northern states, 

 Nova Scotia, and Labrador. 



THE MONTH IN PBOSPECT. 



A P E I L. 



Advancing Spring profusely spreads abroad 

 Flowers of all hues, -with sweetest fragrance stored. 

 Where'er she treads, Lovk gladdens every plain ; 

 Delight, on tiptoe, bears her lucid train. 

 Sweet Hope, with conscious brow, before her lies, 

 Anticipating Wealth from Summer skies. 



Here we are — at last, safely arrived 

 at the month of " Smiles and Tears !" We 

 have passed through many heavy trials, 

 truly, to reach the goal ; but *' let bygones be 

 bygones," and let us rejoice in what lies be- 

 fore us. What a lovely prospect ! 



No pen, — not ours at least, can hope to 

 set forth with anything like effect, what is 

 now daily expanding before us. Our ear, 



our eye, our senses, — all are ravished at the 

 prodigality of Nature's charms, " unfolding 

 every hour." It must not be supposed, be- 

 cause we have alluded to the " trials " of 

 the past season, that we have individually 

 been indifferent to the progress of Nature in 

 the fields. Oh, no ! We have often gone 

 abroad, whilst the fair sun in its weakness 

 was shining hopefully upon us. We have 

 watched his rise, — his journey, — and his de- 

 parture. We have wandered far away, to 

 enjoy those episodes of spring and winter 

 united, that in the early year yield us such 

 infinite delight. W 7 e have waited patiently, 

 to see the sun withdraw his lovely face, the 

 clouds gather blackness, and the landscape 

 undergo every variety of change ; the winds 

 the while howling fitfully, and the little 

 birds taking shelter from the coming storm. 

 Then have we buttoned our coat around us, 

 and stood on an eminence to gaze around on 

 the falling flakes of virgin snow, — ourself 

 the only apparently living being rejoicing in 

 the picture. 



Oh, these rambles ! — the thoughts that 

 steal sweetly on the mind in solitude, whilst 

 holding such indefinable converse with the 

 God of Nature ! Some of our readers can 

 comprehend our meaning fully. Others will 

 deem us mad. That is of little consequence. 

 In the rambles we speak of (we love to be 

 quite alone in the early year), we live a 

 whole life in the course of three short hours. 

 If the thoughts of a mortal can be holy, — 

 and we apprehend that the pure love of God 

 must be a holy feeling — then are we not 

 altogether a stranger to the foretaste of eter- 

 nity, at such times. But we must not be 

 selfish. 



April, as a sweet writer has remarked, is 

 at once the most juvenile of the months, and 

 the most feminine, — never knowing her own 

 mind for a day together. Our fair readers 

 must not feel offended at this little bye-play. 

 It is strictly true. Fickle is she as a fond 

 maiden with her first lover, — coying it with 

 the young Sun till he withdraws his beams 

 from her, and then weeping till she gets them 

 back again. Pleasing moments of dalliance ! 

 April is, doubtless, the sweetest month of the 

 year, for she acts as the hand-maiden to 

 May. She is to May and June, what " sweet 

 fifteen," in the age of woman, is to passion- 

 stricken eighteen, and perfect two-and- 

 twenty. April, in fact, is to the confirmed 

 summer, what the previous hope of joy is to 

 the full fruition; what the boyish dream of 

 love is to love itself. It is the month of 

 promises ; and what are twenty performances 

 compared with one promise ? 



When a promise of delight has once been 

 fulfilled, it is over, and done with. But while 

 it remains a promise, it remains a hope. And 

 what is all good, but the hope of good ? 



