Newark post., 1913-04-09
THE DAWN OF SPRING


That would be hard to answer.
Thoreau wrote: No mortal is alert
enough to be at the first dawn of .
spring" 1t is not the blossoms OF
the witch-hazel, for, while they are .
abundantly found III the woods III /
January, they are not the first OF
the flowers. being rather the last
since the witch-hazel comes into
bloom III October and November OF
the previous year, and It's strange
and peculiar flower remains during
the winter. 1t may be the cawlng
Of the crows that through the win
ter have been quiet i'll their wood
ed scclusion, or the honking Of the
wild geese going north i'll great
trains overhead, or it may be the
dripping Of the icicles at night, for
the icicles are generally the product
OF the late winter, and their drip,
drip, drip at night is an unnistak-
able token of the coming warmth
that overcoming nature calls forth,
the various signs that tell us OF the
advent Of spring. While the snow
still fingers the catllins OF the Will
lows and the birches begin to swell
and burst. The chicadees and the
Juncoes begin to come out from
their seclusion i'll the woods, the
song sparrow opens the year S sea-
son of song. and the bee and the
mourning cloak butterfly appear
The skunk cabbage hoods emerge
from the swampy places, and how
nature s winter tourists begin to ar
rive home, headed by the robin and
the blue bird, but which of the two
arrives first will always be, as it
has always been, a question for dis
cussion. In their wake comes that
most detestable bird with the harsh
voice that has been well likened to
the squeak of rusty gate hinge,
the bronze grackle, our common city
blackbird, which has no friends
and, moreover, deserves none. BY
this time signs are unmistakable
and are coming in greater profu
sion, and every department Of ma
ture seems to be scrambling tt
make its next important announce
ment. The appearance OF the tran
sient fox sparrow, the purple tlncf
and the Peabody bird, the hepatica
the bloodroot, and the trailing ar
butus, the fddle-heads Of the CHINA
mon fern, and the chorus OF th'
p-frogs are but a few of nature
unmistakable 81 gns that spring Is al
ready here and only waits the com
ing of the organ grinder to full,
establish the fact.
Of all the birds Of spring, tn
song sparrow is pre-eminently tn
most versatile and accomplished
musician. as well as one of the mos
faithful and reliable. He opens tn
musical season i'll February am
closes it in November. F. Schuy
ler Matthews, in his - Field Book o
Wild Birds and Their Music, say
of this talented little minstrel: .
am disposed to believe that ever
one who will study the music OF tn
song sparrow long enough will IL
evitably come to the conclusion tina
he is nature s cleverest song genius
He devotes himself to pure, slmpl
melody and is, i'll consequence, tn
best exponent Of the song motlv
among all the members OF the featl
cred tribe. The oriole sometime
EQUALS but he never can excel hll
in this respect moreover, the orlol
lacks versatility" The song spal
row s song has been set to words b
many who have imagined they II
terpreted it. Thoreau heard hin
sing Maids. Maids. Maids. Han
on the tea-kettIe, -kettle-ettl
ettle!' Probably Mr.. Matthew
Interpretation is most nearly the a
curate one of all" Fitz. fitz tit
wee sir-wep sir-wits wits
Henry Van Dyke describes Il