Evening star., 1897-05-29

or pleasing during June. The yarrow
stiffiy holds up it's many-f1owered head
above its finely dissected foliage as though
proud that 1T serves no useful purpose save
to insect and poet.
Leaves and Flowers.
The pretty sky blue blossoms of the chic
ory are stuck apparently at random upon
their homely stalk, suggesting the thought
that the job of constructing the plant had
been intrusted TO some tyro whose sense OF
taste and fixtures was entirely lacking.
The mullen opens yellow eye here and
there along its thick upright stalk. The
pyramidal mounds of the st. Johns wort
display many bright golden miniature suns.
the spreading stamens well representing
the rays. but lose in attractiveness because
of lack of cooperation among their blooms.
some appearing before others on the same
stalk are ready, and these in turn chang
ing their ends into giittering flowers when
their neigh bors have accomplished their
purpose and turned to q dull brown. Out
in the airy middle Of field or meadow stand
groups of corn flowers or black-eyed Susans,
whose general resemblance to the daisy IN
the character of the blossom is responsible
for the natural error embodied In the name
of yellow daisies by which they are some
times designated. Among the handsomest
of these troublesome beauties are the milk
weeds, which commence to bloom in June.
Their curicusly shaped blossoms packed
in rounded head, closely and compactly
in st me species and loosely In others, pre-
sent variously colored, but always SNOWY
trophies for the flower gatherer. The varie-
gated and four-leaved milkweeds, two OF
the most attractive members of the family,
prefer to seclude themselves within the
cover of the woods; the butterfly weed. on
the other hand, is unwilling that the gor-
geous display of orange, which 1t con-
tributes to the months colors should be in
any degree withdrawn from the public
gaze, and SO plants itself in treeless
ground IL the full view of all. The COM
mon milkweed and the obtuse-leaved, which
are similar to each other in coloring, are
not SO brilliant and would not be SO apt
to be chosen by dusky belle for her Sun
day hat, but they are. like the butterfly
weed. unwilling that what they have to
offer should not be perceived by all, and
so also refuse the safety of seclusion and
brave the dangers that attach to promi-
nence.
During May the fields are whitened by
the blossoms of strawberry and black
berry and amidst the underground of the
woods the huckleterry bushes hang their
clusters of waXy white or reddish beads.
In June comes the fuifllnent OF the prom
Use then given. Early in the month red
Strawberries lie in the grass; and before
1t closes blackberrying and huckleberrying
are strictly in season. But the berry gath
erer must remember that the function OF
the luscious dainties that offer themselves
SO temptingly is not alone to, fill his mouth
his pail; nor is that the. most imUort-
ant reason for their existence. There are
divers in1vsdua1s who are at home where
he Is trespassing with his tin pail. These
beings, on whose homestead swe may say
the berries grow. Rave the prior right and
are the most important recipients of the
bounty. They are the guests Of honor at
natures table.
Here is ca bird whose nest Is built
right among the blackberries;f the black
berry bush forms principle. support to
the sticks. rootlets, paper bits and other
things of which it consists He looks out
from his home among the berries as the
man with the pail approaches and per-
cedves an intecloDer. 1t Is not surprising
that he makes An outcry that brings down
upon the intruder an inspection on the
part of all the neighboring householders.
But nature is bountiful. and II the man
with the pail recognizes and acknowledges
the secondary character of his rights and
does nothing detrimental to the interests
patch he will find himself welcomed In
true frien1ly hospitality by the original
owners. The birds have good reason at
this time to be watchful and wary, for in
many of these ingeniously constructed hab-
itations lie variously colored eggs, on
which are centered the hopes and cares of
different feathered couples; while some of
them, II examin I'd, will be found to con-
tain young hedglings, who, IL all goes WELL
will soon be able to care for themselves,
leaving their parents the satisfaction Of a
duty well performed.
Woodland Birds.
What change in birGdom comes as May
whirls boisterously away and June steals
quietly in! A few black-poll warblers, the
last drops of the great vernal migratory
flood. stay with us for five or six days
ard then pass on. leaving us alone with
our summer companions. Not all the war
blers leave lis, however; number remain
here to build. In the June woods we shall
find one of the sojOurners, the black and
creeper. a shade more black than white,
climbing the tree trunks after the fashion
of the woodpeckers, in search of his daily
food in the chinks and crevices of the
bark. And his high, Wire-like song, re-
sembling saving back and forth upon the
higher harmonies of a violin, will frequent
ly be heard, piercing the leafy covers be-
hind which he may be temporarily con-
cealed. Here. too. the attention will prob
ably be attracted by a small bird, with q
white breast literally striped with black,
sedately walking about among the trees.
Perhaps from the ground. but more often
from a low perch up to which he has
flown, he will utter song which hammers
one note harder and harder until the woods
resound with the blows. This is the oven
bird. or golden-crowned accentor. whose
genealogy has been sore puzzle to
ornithologists, though they have finally
concluded that he is entitled to blazon the
warbler crest upon his .coat-of-arms An
OtQeT song Oh MS, muCU less commonly
heard, Is the brilliant carol which Is some
times, perhaps usually, r delivered on the
wing after the manner of the indigo birds
ecstatic lay.
In the lower woods, swhere a stream finds
its way through the shadows. one may oc-
casionally happen upan the handsome Ken
lucky warbler, with his clear olive-green
above and bright yellow beneath. But such
q rencontre is an eventeto rank with the
discovery of one of TIN rare orchids EQUAL
ly noteworthy is meeting with the Louisi-
ana water thrush. asclOse relative of the
oven bird, who seeks similar dark streams
from the neighborkood of which to pour
forth his beautiful song. Each of these
warblers is q fine singer: the voice of the
Kentucky warbler beng extremely brilliant
in tone. and very .sugBestive Of that Of the
Carolina wren. FE
The Cuckoo.
The American representatives of the
cuckoo family can hardly be called sing
ers. They have not even as much music In
their souls as that familiar piece of mech
arism, the cuckoo clock. Yet there II
! something pleasant about the discordant
noise that he emits in lieu of a song. It
| sounds like the effect produced by clappinr
l tWo Coc0anut ah0lls together. a frat MD