of the steamer bears down upon one, the bird half spreads its wings, then
closes them quickly, and sinks out of sight in the green depths, not to
reappear until the steamer has passed, when he looks after us and utters
his mocking laugh. Here he will float until the time comes for him to go
north. We love the brave fellow, remembering him in his home among the
lakes of Canada; but we tremble for him when we think of the terrible
storm waves which he must outride, and the sneering sharks which must
sometimes spy him. What a story he could tell of his life among the
phalaropes and jelly-fishes!

Meadow larks are in flocks in March, and as their yellow breasts, with the
central crescent of black, rise from the snow-bent grass, their long,
clear, vocal "arrow" comes to us, piercing the air like a veritable icicle
of sound. When on the ground they are walkers like the crow.

As the kingfisher and loon appear to know long ahead when the first bit of
clear water will appear, so the first insect on the wing seems to be
anticipated by a feathered flycatcher. Early some morning, when the
wondrous Northern Lights are still playing across the heavens, a small
voice may make all the surroundings seem incongruous. Frosty air, rimmed
tree-trunks, naked branches, aurora--all seem as unreal as stage
properties, when _phoe-be!_ comes to our ears. Yes, there is the little
dark-feathered, tail-wagging fellow, hungry no doubt, but sure that when
the sun warms up, Mother Nature will strew his aerial breakfast-table with
tiny gnats,--precocious, but none the less toothsome for all that.

Hark 'tis the bluebird's venturous strain
High on the old fringed elm at the gate--
Sweet-voiced, valiant on the swaying bough,
Alert, elate,
Dodging the fitful spits of snow,
New England's poet-laureate
Telling us Spring has come again!
Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

THE WAYS OF MEADOW MICE

Day after day we may walk through the woods and fields, using our eyes as
best we can, searching out every moving thing, following up every
sound,--and yet we touch only the coarsest, perceive only the grossest of
the life about us. Tramp the same way after a fall of snow and we are
astonished at the evidences of life of which we knew nothing. Everywhere,
in and out among the reed stems, around the tree-trunks, and in wavy lines