MUS. COMP. ZOOL 
LIBRARY 
THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
SHE LEADS IN BEAUTYAND INTEREST 
jj, fROM 
I HOMES TO NATURE'S REALMS. 
|§Ol EDWARD F. BIGELOW, MANAGING EDITOKY*' 
Vs’dlworth Slll»OA 
Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound beach, Connecticut. 
Subscription, $1.50 a year Single copy, 15 cents 
Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909, at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897. 
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917 , 
authorized on June 27, 1918. 
Volume XIII. AUGUST, 1920 Number 3 
AUGUST. 
By Ruth Elizabeth Kelly, Valley City, North Dakota. 
In August the tide of the year has 
turned ; Summer wanes and Autumn 
begins to creep in with pausing foot- 
steps, stooping here and there to wield 
her paintbrush. Already royal colors 
glow in the purple of the thistles, in the 
golden spires of the evening primrose, 
in the tall joe-pye weed of the swamps, 
in the sturdy ironweed. Everywhere 
is the dull white of Queen Anne’s lace, 
as background. In waste places, early 
goldenrod spreads abroad its lavish 
wealth. Glints of dark blue show 
where the great lobelia’s long-continu- 
ing spire stands guard over creeks in 
company with the cardinal flower, 
which is unrivalled for brilliancy. Deep 
reds are seen in blackberry vines, and 
bright reds in sumac seeds. Of the 
June flowers black-eyed Susans still 
bloom in sunny stretches, and bounc- 
ing Betty still gives us its pink beauty. 
The fragrance of their leaves attracts 
11s to the peppermint and to the spear- 
mint. 
Roadsides are rank with tall weeds, 
with rifts of yarrow and of mullen 
stalks, milkweeds going to seed, sweet 
clover and self-heal. White snakeroot 
leads us into the woods. Here are 
pyrola, pipsissewa and downy false 
foxglove glimmering like a candle, the 
early white asters and, along the road- 
sides, tick trefoil and dittany. Deep in 
the shades are the tall cathedral spires 
of black snakeroot and the starry cam- 
pion. Boneset shows us where there is 
water. Here we find great tall flowers 
of rich color, embroidering swamps in 
opaline hues. Among the berries are 
those of jack-in-the-pulpit, brilliantly 
red, and of the red baneberry. 
August mornings are dewy ; every- 
where are cobwebs heavy with dew- 
drops which outline them as with 
jewels. The hot sun soon dispels them 
and dries the grass. 
Great white clouds sweep across the 
sky, chasing shadows over the bright 
landscape. The sun sets clear and red, 
followed by a pink-and-lavender sky. 
The air resounds with insect life. All 
day we hear the locust’s trill ; in the 
evening, the cricket and the katydid. 
Night moths, the sphinxes, hover over 
the four-o’clocks and other night-insect 
attracting flowers. 
Bird life is silent, except for the gold- 
finch, which is now building its nest of 
the thistledown, and the indigo bunt- 
ing and the scarlet tanager, the only 
birds that sing in hot weather. Oc- 
Copyright 1920 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach. Conn. 
