804 
XXI. 
SEPTEMBER 20th. 
Autumnal Frosts. — Threshing Buckwheat in the Field. — Grinding. — 
Butterflies. — Humming-bird. — Fading of the Leaves of Trees. — Brown 
Ash. — Other Trees. — Seeds of White Ash. — Crimson Beetle. — Beetles 
in Earth. — Warblers. — Finches. — ^ Rough Caterpillars of Geometrce — 
of Buff-leopard Moth — of a large Sphinx — handsome one from Wil- 
low — very beautiful one of Saturnia Polyphemus. — Summer Duck. 
— Hooded Merganser. — Anecdote of a Brood of Black Ducks. — 
Waterfowl. — - Migration of Aquatic Birds. — Bryant's Lines to a Wa- 
terfowl. 
Father. — The autumnal frosts have now cut oif the 
increase of many of our plants. The beans and potatoes are 
turned black, the leaves and stalks looking as if they had 
been plunged into boiling water ; that part of the buckwheat^ 
which is not yet cut^ is of a rusty brown colour ; pompions 
and squashes, and many garden plants and flowers, are de- 
stroyed : — the wheat and oats were happily ripe before the 
frost, so as to be beyond the reach of injury. 
Charles. — What are those men about in yonder field ? 
F, — They are threshing buckwheat on the ground : we 
have some slovenly customs, and this is one of them. When 
this plant is ripe, the grains are so tenderly attached to the 
branches, as to be shaken off by a very slight shock ; espe- 
cially in the heat of the day, when the stems are brittle from 
dryness. On that account we usually mow this plant early 
in the morning, ceasing as soon as the dew is evaporated. 
Notwithstanding this precaution, a great quantity of grain is 
