Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-10-20

On the marsh ard in the woods one
notes In October how few and how
Iessened in variety since the spring and
early summer have become the voices
that 80 necessarily stirred the stmos-
Dhefe ia those tuneful DAYS.
Here, where then was heard eontinu-
ally the mating calls Of many water
fowl, the booming of the biftern, the
muskraE's ~himper. the gurglipg iangie
Of the blackhirds, ceaseless as the babble
Of brooks. the resounding chorus OF the
bullfrogs. twitter Of swallows and IN
Vulnerable voiced expressions Of happy.
teeming life. the strained ear catches
only the raucous quack Of s0me dusky
duck calling its dead or scattered COM
rades, the startled squswk of q lingering
wood duck, the rjacuiarory squawk OF
rising bittern, the sudden outcry Of u
raii, alarmed BY splash Of oar or careless
tap OF paddle. and perhaps the CHATTER OF
singfisheg. faring with jerky dight
along the winding course Of his fishing
route
These only now, with many intervals
OF silence, or il the marshes have been
much hsrried by sportsmen, not even
ane OF these, nor aught else TO break the
silence unless some laundering humble
bee comes droDing aboard your craft.
him perhaps that you saw In the frosty
morning benumbed on the clover BIOS
som where he supped
Almost every songster OF the woods
has departed OF those that stay or
linger, ouly the chiekadee remembers
his love notes, and rehesrses them but
rarely The robins rarry at the feast OF
wild cherries that now hang thick in
blsck race mes among the orange leaves,
but few and brief are the notes OF the
busy fiocks. The tap Of the woodpecker
Is a Glow, laborious sound. never the
rafting note that echoed through the
woods in mating time, and the yelp Of
the smaller kinds Is brief and infrequent,
though now and then great log cock
marks the course of his Looping fight
with loud cackle.
The voices that Oftehest strike the ear
are the clamor OF the crows, the squall-
ing OF the jays, the bark OF the gray
squirrel and the soothing Of his little red
cousin, never too busy with his nut
raspiug to indulge in an outburst OF
cynicism
Louder than any of these, not sound
| Of nature, yet so common to the season
| tEldL IL dluiort eCCAo ohC ~ VIZ o\NA1
| toned ear from the marsh and wood
land bursts the sudden roar Of guns,
now deafeningly near, now family afar
like fitful puff OF wind.
As one idling under October skies
| listens to these miniature thunder
clsps, he is apt to guess upon what
game the brief storm here and there is
Ireaking. Here in the gaudy upland,
was it ruffed grouse bursting up like a
gray rocket through the gorgeous
foliage. the bright leaves tluttering
down like sparks behind him: or was 1t
hare limping through the yellow
taugle of frosted ferns? or squirrel
skulkng in the topmost twigs Of nut
tree:
Or there on the broad level Of the
marsh, where long moment before the
report strikes the ear, one sees the jet
OF smoke cast up and floating away in
dis olving veil, was it a duck splashing
to flight from its sedgy cover? or a rail
forced to reluctant wing from his lilypad
raft! or flock of teal following with
swift pinions the bends Of the channel:
or wa, it snipe fluttering out Of the
rush shaded ooze and zlgzaging away
across the sunny marsh? or only poor
heron or tagging bittern?
ANY of these it may have been. but
whatever and wherever each sudden
boom marked a moment of some ones
expectation, some ones satisfaction or
disappointment and some things sudden
pang of death or exultatiOn Of escape.
With or without gun it is good to be
afield or afiood in these glorious days -
Forest and Stream.