The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-03-14
O llIJI7I STUDIES.

vote ofz26S to Il -
OUT Old DOR STUDIES.
.In3Defence of the Much Abused Month
OF March.
Few there are to speak a good word
calls It.
with rain, and hail, ana snow. and
You fercely pelt US,
And then next day with lanquid heat
You melt u.s.
complains another Savage and serene
In one hour says Emerson Even Tho
reau,. after. pages of cheerful observations
on the doings of nature during this
month, declares: HE must have-a great
deal of life in him to draw upon, w no can
pick up a subsistence in November and
March, a few of the English poets
;have praised March, but 1t was the March
of old and not of New England, which
is quite a different matter. Yet, in spite
of his wild and boisterous ways, March
is a good fellow at heart. He is like
some people we know, who, notwithstand-
ing a. certain roughness of manner, are
continually planning kindnesses. SO
March, even in the midst OF bowling
winds and blinding SHOWS, IS thinking
hepaticas and plotting violets. and al
the other sweet surprises Wlcn greet US
a little later.
We must not expect much softness
from this brave young knight. who has
come forth to battle with that old war
rior, Winter. He needs some sternness
Of character for the encounter Win
..sunbeams like swords March pierces
the ElitterinS armor of his doughty an
tagonist, and with strong winds drives
him farther and farther back toward mis-
northern fortress.
Hill and valley ring
TO hIarch.s busle-horn: Earth's blood is
stirred"
The trees know the touch OF their
brave deliverer, and are thrilled to their
innermost cells The buds of the elm
and the maple expand. and their sap be-
Gins to flow Note the difference be-
tween the clumsy bud of the horse-chest-s
nut and the slender, pointed bud of the
beech "a swelling bud, says John
Burroughs, sis food for the fancy. and
often food for the eye" The pussy-wiiiiows
are coming out The hazel in sheltered
places is beginning to blossom. Tho
reau tells us that there are many ac-
curate thermometers on every hill and
in every valley; and that .the length OF
the hazel stigmas will show just how
much warmth there has been this spring.
AS the snow disappears, we find the
green of the brttercup, the celandine. and
the velvet mullen leaves The. common
chickweed is one of the first spring
flowers. but so humble tnat IL attracts
but little notice.
The birds trust their valiant champion.
March. The bluepird, 1.-The angel of the
spring" greets US with his sweet 'chur-
u-it, cher-u-it," and we feel like excia1m-
ing with Lowell. 1T is the best news
have heard this many day Thoreau
says: Ills soft MARBLE meltsin the ear
as the snow is melting in the valleys
around'' He records the arrival of the
hluebird in Concord some years ago as
early as February oath. The call of the
robin may be heard early in March.
though he begins his love-song some
what later The so1g-sparrows potSr
out their joyous carol from the day OF
their arrival. Perhaps they have been
singing it somewhere all winter. know
have heard 1t on a bleak December
day in Virginia. at comes, 1T comes,
It comes-summar, summer, summer,
summer comes!" they seem to say; ana,
SO confidently do they reiterate the cheer
full prophecy that, in spite of brown
fields and bare boughs, We can't help
believing them. The tYee-sparrows sing
their sweet canary-liie song along the
hedge-rows; and the retiring fox-sparrow,
is his warm reddsh-brown coat. pays US
a visit on the way to his breeding-place,
in the region of Hudson's Bay.
Early in March we may surprise
company of gentle cedar birds holding
Quaker meeting in some sheltered spot
among the evergreens; or may attend the
dress-parade of the red-w1nged black
birds which have returned in full force to
our marshes. and are displaying their scar
f,,. Nh JYY7ir ION a.
fu1l-coaored mates. The air is ringing
with their surglins notes. March would
not be March without the martial red
wings. We have seen an occasional crow
during the winter; but now they are much
in evidence, and their familiar cav,
caw,"greets us at every turn. They have
a varied language. which It would take
an expert in bird notes to explain. Ocea-
sionally the scream of a hawk is heard
overhead Dhoreau says: 'There Is
some thing truly March-like in the sound,
like a prolonged blast or whstltng OF the
| wind through cTevice In the sky. Inc
sight Oft marsh hawk In the Concord
meadows was more to him than the en-
try OF the allies into Paris. Some morn
ing toward the last of the month we
may hear the monotonous call OF the
phoebe and find this forerunner of the
flycatchers on his favorEte perch. the
! piazza or 5arn-yard gate The spring
note Of the chickadee may be easily ms
taken by a novice for that of g. phoebe. 81
The bugle-horn of March has called
forth the insects also. In the swarnps
we may find honey bees lowering around
| the spat1le of the skunk cabbage. the
odor5 of which is doubtless more agreeable
to them than it is to the human family
Over the brown grass and among the dry
stalks of last years weeds, the earliest
of our butterflies, the mourning CLOAK
(vanessa antiopa) sails on wings of dark
purplish brown with pale yellow bor-
der. It has braved the winters cold,
hiding in some old building or woodpile;
and now aroused by the vernal warmth,
it sports a few hours in the sunshine. de-
posts its eggs on the willow, poplar. or
elm. and dies.I have seen the mourning
! cloak as early as March 18th Thoreau
speaks of seeing in March a small red
butterfly.
The qrass. grows green ON southern