Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-05-25
The Gree Rrss
DYES On THE FAUNA OF YER.
MONTY.
lhe Revolving Seasons.

|. IS Pigment Of poetry to speak oil the
phenomena of the year as drama upon q
vast scale, long professional march. From
your Window or field you may watch the
procession as it slowly crosses the stage. As
YOU 81, by your door the great globe swings
round. presenting TO you the varied sights
and wonders of its several zones. The scenes
are constantly shifting and new players CON-
inc to the front. When one set of artists
play out another is at hand to fill the vacan-
cy. So the drama of the year is enacted
with daily changing background, with
innumcrahle little tragedies and counter
acts lnterspcrsed but not affecting the grand
unity Of the chorus.
Spting in our climate may be said TO cx-
tend from the first of April TO the last of
June, subject to the usual vacillations. This
at any rate is the season of succulcncy and
new growth, the return of the birds, and the
general rehabilitation of nature. Each stage
is marked by the prominence OF certain birds
as it is OF particular flowers.
When the snow Is yet on the ground, We
may hear the MARBLE OF tic bluebird like n
wandering voice in the air. OF an early
from the wood; it Is the robins, the rollick-
ing. vivacious robins. Their robust forms
and genuine hearty notes arc in keeping
with the time of the season. The silverY
notes OF the song sparrow fall like dew from
the trees.
The winds break up the ice, and dart
along the green surface in flaws, raising the
waves and beating up foam "wherc the
laughing gull scoots Icy the shore, when she
-, 1,ts,, t,ri,
fisher, ever really for Il plunge, iiies along
the shoals, rafting as he goes. The vigorous
call of the flicker aid rich note OF the lark
come up from wood and meadow while on
their outskirts ''the partridge beats his throb-
bling drum"
In April all will be musicians who can,
even the cocks and hens in the yard, whose
growing aud carolliug suggest the impulse
of the season. The cow-blid tries TO palm
off his gurgling whistle for song Then
comes The insect chant of the S0cidts or
chipping sparrow.
BY the middle oil April the nightly scrc-
made of the frogs and piping hytodes begins.
At dusk what u maze OF shrll music comes
up from the ponds and Marshes from that
"pied orchestra" the chorus of thousand
voices. The air fairly palptatcs with the
intensity of the sound. There are the
. ''peepers," among whom the nocturnal tree
toad (hyid gaSic0lor) is conspicuous, crying
peat, 1eat, or, as the boys say, knee deep,
&nec deep! Later you hear the clucking
note OF the brown spring frog, the roll OF
the toad, and then the croaking bull-fross
shouting according to the version, jug o rum,
jug o rum, pull tie ping, or letter go
r0und, better go round!
May is the transition month. The tropic
oriolc is seen flashing amid the Gins and the
loqnacious, chattering swallows fill the air
at evening, hawking for insects.
By the first of July the master singers, the
M5aMes, are all here, and the prophecy of
the robin and the bluebird has been fulfilled.
The high water-mark is reached. There is a
solslice, AN equilibrium b,foic the tide GIBBS.
In the uplyins pastures ,hc vesper bird is
singing Mt evening, and the solitary cuckoo,
the ''rain crOto," may be seen fitting from
bush to bush.
''ln the allers dank with nOon-day dews,
The restless cat-hlrd darts and news"
Towards the latter part of the month the
eloquence Of the birds begins to wanc. They
become fretful and sing little and impatient
ly. AS the reign of the dog star approaches,
II new class of artists take the field. The
cricket begins his monot0nous chirp. In
August insect life reaches its climax, and
now the swallows and ily.catchers hold high
carnival. The air is alive with their prey.
You hear the alril a!arums Of the cicadac
going Off ut neon, and at evening the warm,
heavy arthrobs with the rhythmic chorus of
the rssping kaiy-diGs.
The indigo-bird sings under the torrid sun,
and the vircos MARBLE from the elms The
birds bring forth their brCods. The hen
barrier, sailing lcisurely over head, falls
suddenly like bolt to the Garth, and bears
aloit the bewildcred fowl or the sparrow
hawk swoops low over the fields and
snatciics the purblind mole or bird in his
talous, and scuds of with his quarry to the
wood.
The insects sing in the harvest, and as it
approaches the birds begin to flock and 60,
The swallows, the bobolinks, the finches and
the b!ackbirds. The trees are alive again
with the little kinglets and warb!ers return
ing from the north. Ling harrows and
wavy lines OF geese are seen heating north
ward The season closes as the birds depart,
and the woods and fields are left again 10
their harder tenants.
The Black birds.
OF our native blackbirds, the purple
grackle or -5lackbird, the red.shoul-
dered Startling the cow-brd and rusty
grackle, the two former are the best kno wn
and most conspicuous. They sweep up from
the south in loose ilocks in April, often in
company, and take possession of swamp
or pond where they settle down in large
communities. Here the cow-bird hangs
idly about, while the rusty grackle passes
norlhward TO find more congenial home In
the upper districts of Maine or Canada
None Of them are Songsters, even in the
widest sense of the word, as many of our
poets would have them. The grackles and
cow-birds vomit mp variety of gurgling
notes which may be compared to, the sound
produced by pouring water ont of a glass
bottle. We may perhaps credit the red-wing
as Thoreau did, with "split-whstle.'
He has greater variety of notes, some OF
which are pleasant to the ear, and may rarely
be heard TO combine them into what re-
sembles musical effort. The author of 1.-THE
Gamekeeper at Home" claims the privilege
of having heard song from this bird.
The fame of the English black-brd, the
ouzcl-oock of Shakespeare, has come to this
country embalmcd in the literature, and
many less observant writers have attributed
to our bird some of his powers OF song.
The fact is the ouzel of Britain (7'urdus
meruId) is thrush and blackbird at the
same time, corresponding to our robin in
everything but color.
The Purple GracItIe (QuiscaIus pur.
purascens, Licht)
To the farmers, at least, this noted deprc-
dator will need little introduction after his
frequent visits to their cornfelds.
The grackles are social birds, dwelling in
large communities about their chosen
swamps, building their large basket shaped
nests indlTerently in the tops of tall trees or
amid the low adjoining bushes. Here they
spend the season, u dusky, noisy colony,
masters Of their position by mere numbers
81 Il