The Red Cloud chief., 1881-06-02
Spring Tokens.

1t is hard sometimes TO tell when the
back of wiuter is fairly broken. The
persistence of its vertcbr;e in our
climate is something wonderful. 1t
s%urrcnders a good many times in its
later days, only to stiflen up more per-
~pendicularly again for u renewed con-
test with the inevitable. Some of the
birds which arc always with us leave
their haunts in the woods in these in
tervals when the weather relaxeS to
forage near the house and barn. They
make 4 reconnaissance along the mOr
travelled roads to see what bits of straw
they can find to thresh out, or to
gather the kernels spilled from the
farmers sleigh on its way to or from
the mill. have seen the crows par
ticularly active in this way of late, as if
their winter fast had made them bold.
and they could endure their en- orced
hunger no longer.
The crow, if anybody does, knows
pretty well what he is about, and he
keeps his eyes and mind on the alert
when he has a mission near the human
habitation. think l can see already
that the belief in spring has had its ef-
feet upon him, although the vicissi-
tudes of the late winter have given him
an early and rigidly compulsory Lent.
which he is trying to terminate just as
ours begins. Not long after l was
watching his and two of his brethren's
movements the other day. a pair of
bluejays came into the yard here, and
both seated themselves on the low
limb of a tall elm not far from my win
dow. They were pretty specimens,
with exceptionally soft and rich plum
age; and If they were not making some
calculations for the summer soon to
come, then they were looking very
wise and discoursive over matters that
seemed not a particle less significant
They are rare visitors at so close a
range, but the proximity Of a corn
crib to their familiarly-selected perch
may account for the unusual invasion.
On the Sd of March, late in the day,
l was surprised to find within a few feet
of me as l opened the door-yard gate
leading to the highway. q plump little
red squirrel. who, with his mate. occu-
pies a hollow tree near by. He is a
constant sum ner guest, but he had not
shown his head for months until that
moment. He knew me at sight as wei!
as I knew him, and Just turned back a
little on the pockets of the fence which
he had made his trotting-track until /
had achieved the passage Though it.
His foresight had served to keep hin
fat and sleek. for no squirrel could look
rs he did who had no. put up ratiOns
proportional to the strength and severi-
ty of this uncommon. season. There
was a luster in his beady eye, too. that
spoke of good heart aud good cheer.
and n cordial relish in his enjoyment of
his new observations that assured me
all was we'll with him and his house
hold. But why should he have selected
the Sd of March for his tribute to the
season? Did he wish to see the very
last of the Hayes q~uadrennial. or was
he awaking himself betimes for the in
a~uguration of Garfield?
How gracefully at ease this little
rodent depor;s himself. as if an infinite
leisure We're his, and no carping con-
Germs could be permitted to mar it! The
evergreens nea By e b only OBJ
jects that gave any sensible hint OF
summer attire, and yet the summer
must somehow have entered into his
thought. His confident step Detokened
that the worst of our journey b. it is
now ended, and that a new order OF
things is 1t hand. To see him. in the
bright expectant attitude he had so sud-
denly assumed, was . yeritahle token
Of spring ioretoken of summer
"Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in sreen shade"
joel benton, in N. Y. Erening Post