34 
CHE (AU (Da BrOINSE Be te, eee 
By the time the Cardinal comes in to close shop, the 
Wood Thrush has ceased his benison, sunset glow is fad- 
ing and the Nighthawk is sounding. A little bat sails by 
and the Whippoorwill chants under the huge pinoak on 
knoll. Before morning the Barred Owl will call to say 
that all’s well in the deep woods. Will this be the year I 
find his nest? 
By the middle of June the lush green forest ceiling 
is complete and the forest floor retires into obscurity after 
the burst of spring bleom. Some of the Jack in the Pulpits 
are thirty inches tall, but the only colored flowers left in 
the woods are the Wild Geraniums. May Apples are set- 
ting and adventuresome wild grapes are taking off to cover 
the earth as usual. Behind the cottage the sea of golden 
Coreopsis will soon have Goldfinches riding the slender 
stems as they sink to the ground, inching down them in 
a deft sidestep, and then pecking out the thin seeds one by 
one. Where the sun isn’t quite so bright the Ox-eye 
Daisies bloom luxuriantly. Over the years these daisies 
have become more and more a favorite, the quintessence 
of simple rhythmic beauty. 
Sad to say, the dawn chorus has tapered down to 
almost nothing: the Wood Thrush carols his haunting 
Ee-oh-lay less frequently and for shorter periods. The 
Ovenbird’s call is a mere echo of the earlier strident pro- 
nouncement. The Field Sparrows sound rundown. But 
the Yellowthroat missing earlier calls with great urgency 
when I walk by the swamp. What ts he telling me? No 
Whippoorwill at all and the Wood Pewee stops in the 
middle of his wail. The Wren continues a burst of sound 
sporadically. In the 95 degree heat the robins lie spread- 
eagled and panting on a branch in a sunny spot. Seems 
a funny way to cool off. . . Why not do it in the shade? 
Such heat should bring forth the six-lined skink we see 
on very hot days. The Veery is still practicing his baroque 
organ, playing descending scales in the swamp woods at 
eventide. One evening there seemed to be two Veeries in 
an antiphonal arrangement worthy of Bach himself. A 
Towhee calling has a strange double-noted ‘‘Chewink’’. 
He often stops in the middle of his call saying only “Drink 
your’. 
The South Shore Railroad right-of-way is gay with 
Black Eyed Susans. They'll be cheery for four or five 
weeks. The Common Milkweed blossoms are literally 
