Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-11-16
NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF WEIR.
MONT-XIX.
Shifting the Scenes.

Written for the Free Press by Francis II. Herrck.l
Nature prepares for the advent of autumn,
as for every other change, with sure and
steady deliberatlon. What seems at first Il
sudden transformation may be a finishing
touch merely, the resultant OF myriad OF
hidden faces which have bccu long and
silently at work. The processes in this
great laboratory can never halt while
| the globe swings round and the stars
| revolve. Anticipation and relentless ener-
gy mark every movement. The tide OF
| organic life presses on, obedient to the laws
which govern it, moulding itself as best it
may to those climatic forces which in winter
| tend to repress and repel.
Thus, while the present, the immediate, is
| not neglected, the way is gradually prepared
| for what is to succeed. Summer silently
fades into fall, and the autumn anticipates
| the spring. The scenes shift slowly and the
views dissolve.
Autumnal Pictures.
august 21.) The acme OF inscct-life :
the sun scorches the parched earth with its
fiery breath, hanging like burning shield
in the heavens. A few shutting clouds
ride the sky in an atmosphere of haze.
From the earth comes a fine maze of
sound. Whence this shrill music? You
| may look in vain for the musicians, for the
| katydids clad in their summer suits Of green
gauze are well shielded by the grass leaves.
This yellow-eyed harper sings h-s.s.z z.seet-
eet-t-t. Another light-green fellow raises
his wings perpendicular to the body aud
vibrating them together produces sort of
low trill or whistle. The cicada, or seven
| toap ypar locust sotpda bis lp,id alarr, from,
the tree-top, w.e.e.e-e.e in ascending SCALE
and you may catch u glimpse of this broken
reed performer as he darts hurriedlY from
his post
Swifts and swallows. arc.busily hawking
for insects over the water. and Cedar-brds
are flocking. In the woods there is an un-
dertone of mingled voices, the hum OF a
struggling bee and the warning note of the
mosquito. The wood-pcwee frequently
changing its perch iutones its low notes.
Then there is the ddy-day of the titmouse,
the peevish cry of the jay. The setting sun
shining through the forest lights up the
irdescent rays from the silkcn cables Of the
spiders stretched from tree to tree.
| At dusk the yellow moon energies from
the eastern horizon, its rough edge npturned,
softening the d-y landscape with its mellow
light, and soon illu mines the earth revealing
every object by its dark shadow. And now
the insects begin their grand chorus, chant
ing in unison, and the air throbs..as with the
beat of pendulum only thrice as fast.
September l6) Sultry days: the signs
Of autumn everywhere present; the cold
dews of morning are succeeded by the warm
sun and fine nsective hum fills the air at
quarter. The crickets chirp and bleat hest
ta,ingy, and the katy.dds scrape more
sloely.. "The flies whose woven wings the
summer dies of many colors," and be-
numbed wasps come into the houses. The
woods present bold patchwork OF greens
and browns and crimson shades. The
apples turn their rcd checks to the sun. Now
the pine drops its yellow needles, having
added to sits old leaves new myriads."
Birds 80 past on their migrations and some
tarry by the roadside, the bluebirds calling
tener, teuer, the silent phebe and the bay
winged buntings. A flock of field sparrows
drop into garden plot to gather up the
weed-seeds which are sifted everywhere in
abundance, and you can hardly distinguish
them against the brown earth, but throw
something among them and they rise up in
!. cloud. At nightfall there are the same
insect harpers you heard in August.
,September 3O.) 1n the early morning the
earth gistens in its ashy coating of frost
The sun burns through the cloudy envelope
revealing the clear blue sky OF Autumn.
Along the roads YOU see numbers of tow
Q hees fitting in and out the brush fences
displaying their white tipped tail quils, anc
s utterng quite regularly their queer tOr.,oe-'cc
Accompanying them are the wLile-throatet
sparrows, also lovers of the hedge row
' An occasional cat-bird lodges among
g the bushes. The chippug.sparrow flock t.
S the cultivated lands for their food. We Sc,
= small company OF the black snowbirds cir
c cling through some saplings, showing The
: dark slate hood and white In the tail which
o they spread in flight, convcrsing in the
. low fine notes. Numbers Of robiLs ar
|! about. Some gather in scattering iiocks ant
d take to an elm or other tall tree, but the,
!. seek the cover of the woods for the mos
r part, where they may he heard, if not seen
C scratching amid the leaves. A company o
n hardy poplar. You may not be able t.
n distinguish feather, but it is the blucbrd
C for their manners and cha,tcring notes ar
o diagnostic.
r, October 49, Perfection in nature or AT
d is reached only by slow stages. And so wit
&c autumn, the colors arc Pprinklcd on gradu
% ally until the high-color tide is reached. Tn
t. preparations arc slow but when the prop,
al iious time arrives, the dyes develop, tn
IL colOrs flash out, and as by some subtl
is magic external nature is all at once arrayc
le in her robe of many colors. The landscap
is has become one vast mosaic OF rich tint
st bighter il not deeper than before. You moi
the naples clothed in scarlet and gold {
|, Indian red when dulled by the, frost, IL
oaks. brick-red on lake OF O bronzen cas-
a standing out against the orange aud ycllo
he settings OF birches, poplars md willows, ar
or the dark green of the sturdy conifcrs. b.
ks this is not long to last, for soon comes n
ne "killiug frost" aud the rain. The leav
= lose their colors aud decay, and atcnda
k. winds strip the trees of their .garlands al
M send them flying in pieces 10 the Garth
ar. dance the dance of death until the SHOWS
wv winter put them to their long sleep.
III. The birds have needed these signs al
ers many have passed by on their southe
inv journey, but there are stragglers yet in I
nd rear. Ducks find a temporary harbor in o
he lakes and rivers. Finches, thrushcs and OF
Tic ers may still be seen haunting the stone wa
MI. and fcnce-rows, seeking food among
dense layer of leaves which carpets wo
and field.
bly, Songless aud silent mostly, you wol
lev hardly suspect the presence of the birds
.. all. There is still tie nasal note of the n
VIC hatch, the merry voice OF the tit, the rat
ere tat, o; the busy woodpecker, the 70
BILE scream of The jay aud the lus,y call Of I
the boding crow, but these eau be heard a
md time In the year.
did, Now when the deciduous trees have