nature's calm 119 



owl may breed in February, and it is 

 the prophet of the coming bird music 

 even as the skunk-cabbage is the fore- 

 runner of the violet. The late March 

 moon has a more human face, though 

 it still casts bare shadows, and as it 

 pales at morning the song-sparrows 

 huddled in the bushes sing half to the 

 night and half to the day. 



The typical spring night is only 

 quiet in comparison to dawn and twi- 

 light. Even-song lasts an hour after 

 sundown and matins begin as long 

 before sunrise. Even in the mid- 

 night hours, the forces of Nature are 

 too potent to rest wholly; in this lies 

 the principal difference between the 

 nights of spring and those of early 

 autumn. The temperature of the two 

 seasons is much alike, and the shadows 

 also, but the spring nights overflow 

 with little murmurings. Birds stir and 



