Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-04-24
APRIL LIFE.

To the ratvre student April Is one OF
the most delightful months In the whole
year. In II he gets the first taste Of real
spring weather, the first glimpse of the
fast-nyipg swallows. finging rainbows
from their shining wings: the first soulful
hymn Of the wccd-thrush singing calmly
in the forest at twilight. 1t is in April,
too, that he hears at night. far up above
him, the confident "hcrk, honk CT the
northward bound Canada geese and IN
els mind he pictures these great grly
birds as they ewoep the stars, each with
neck extended like the needle of living
compass and as he listens to their trumpet
voices, his heart beats faster. until it keeps
time with the strokes Of their powerful
wings.
On any warm morning now, the wood
churks may he seen summing themselves
near the motths Of the burrows, in front
of which are rounds of newly-dug earth.
How greatly those little fellows have
changed in appearance since last autumn.
Then they were fat and heavy as the
result of good living. They had been hav-
ing a steady diet Of clover. with an occa-
sional feast of garden vegetables, finish
ing up with farewell dinner of squash s.
perhaps. at the farmers expense But
now, after fast of three or four months.
they are thin. and it will be some time be-
fore the hired man will consider it wortl
while to shoot them for the sake OF the IA
nous woodchuck oil. The young
"chucks" will be born very soon now. and
In May the whole family will be seen in
the early morning and late afternoon,
stealing towards the patches OF young clio
vor.
The chipmunks are out now, too fri5k-
ing in the stone heaps and chasing one
another in and out of the stone walls. The
beauty of the chipmunk Is. I am afraid
chiefly outward beauty. By those who be-
lieve that handsome is as handsome does
the hackbee could not be counted good
looking. His fondness for birds eggs and
nestlings is we'll known and within year
7 have observed him kill and deNcur three
different species of wild mice, and that
when there was an abundance of other
food close at hand. After killing mouse,
he sits up on his hind legs, with his VIC
TINS head in his front paws, and It's limp
body hanging down in front of him. He
first opens the skull very much as he
would open nut and proceeds to eat
| out the brains. After that he devours
the whole body. leaving practically nothing
but the skin.
The ponds, streams and swamps are
now teeming with life. Every bit of
marsh we come to Is ringing with the
srrIll notes of the peering frogs. who,
contrary to the method often adopted with
| children, are taught to be heard and not
seen. 1t is really quite difficult for an
| unframed eye to detect these tiny frogs,
even in swamp which is swarming with
them. In the first place they usually stop
calling on the approach OF footsteps, and
then they look quite different from what
most pet pie expect to see. But n. after
reaching the swamp, the observer will
Keep perfectly still for several minutes,
some pepper will be bold enough to peep
again, and others will soon join in, until
the sound Is deafening at such close range.
Then, If he will watch the grass blades and
the reeds, he will notice some of them
nodding occasionally as the peppers leap
| from one to another, and soon he will dis
| cover a wee frog about an inch hong
clingng to a reed, perhaps, by the tips
Of it's toes. each one of which is provided
with little sucking disk for that purpose.
| And If the frog be male and In the hui
| NOR for singing, the observer will see the
little white throat swell out until II seems
as though there were a marble lodged In
II. This swelling Is the frogs vocal sac
which he distends with air and uses ms
| a bagpipe while in the act Of peeping. The
peppers are tree frogs. They spend the
inter IN the mud at the bottoms Of the
ponds, and after depositng their eggs In
| the water where We hear them peeping
| they go Off into the woods and spend the
summer amongst the trees, where they live
| on small insects.
| Whilst hunting for peppers we are almost
| sure to come across spotted and painted
turtles. either swimming under water In
the brook, floating on the surface of a
pond. or basklng in the sunshine on some
half -s,inken log. Quaint ungainly little
| creatures these. but always fun Of interest
when viewed In the proper spirit. Beauti.
ful and decorative too they are, when seer
with their bright III Arkin2 against the dark
bottom of a brook. They are wonderfully
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