Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-08-17

flying away. Sometimes she leaves the
nest for few moments for water. or
TO test her wings. Then the male
stands guard. 1t is laughable to see
him on duty. He stands on the edge
of the nest as stiff and straight as
soldier He turns his head neither to
the right nor to the left. and looks
straight down at the eggs. 1t is per-
fectly clear that his better half said
to him when she left the nest, Now
don't YOU take your eyes from those
eggs while / am gone. and don't you
dare trying to sit on them. You don't
know how, and l do ] regret that
the visit of these dear little guests
must necessarily soon come to an end
for 1 am reminded of Longfellow's
lines, which apply also tothe sparrow:
The blue eggs in the robins nest
VIII soon have wings and beak and
breast.
And flutter and fly away"
1t has been a day of intense excite
ment and activity with them. l spent
long time observing them at close
range. l knew ct once this morning
that something had happened. To be
sure. There were five little bits of
Lirdlets in the nest. Both parents
were busy bringing food to the little
things They knew that these young
stcrs could not devour insects and
worms like older birds. and I observed
with great interest. that they first
ground UP tho food with their bills.
moiStcncd it with saliva and then fed
the product to the young.
One Of my dining room windows
faces the north, and through the wood
hine that half covers it, one may see
a little corner where the sun seldom
shines and which has taken on
"woodsy'' appearance that is worry
plea sing. A bank Of yellow butter
cups guards this little kingdom and
defines and maintains its boundaries.
In the midst of it springs a noble mr..
like a giant arrow about to be shct up
to high heaven. There are white
daisies in full bloom, some blossoms of
rcd and whiteclovor. n stalk or two of
NARROW. two varieties Of ferns,
ragged robin" that bloomed in May.
but whose foliage is still very fresh
and green. and a few stalks of meadow
rue with their foathery white bios
SONS. And sometimes, if one has
sharp eyes. he may sec big. bronzed
end warted toad. who is monarch OF
this witching bit of the wild. Here, I
know, gather at times the fairies. /
have watched for them by moonlight.
by starlight and by the light of the sun.
but ! have never yet seen them, al
though think I have heard them. But
/ shall see them some day, or some
night when the moon and stars are
p-opitious. But perhaps the reader
Will say to me as Romeo said TO
Mcrcutio. when the latter had been
prating to him of Queen Nab end the
fairies:
Peace peace. Mercutio. peace;
Thou talkest of nothing
How much of the glory of the heav-
ems do tho dwellers in the cities miss!
They hardly ever see the stars. which
ere dimmed and obscured by the city
lights. The earth, with all it's wealth
of beauty. charms the eye and gladdens
the heart. But when on clear night
in the country one looks up TO the
heavens and sees the myriads of far
away suns scintillating and flashing,
he is filled with awe and admiration.
Yesterday, near midnight l went out
into the open field. First of all |
turned my eyes to the northwest. and
there. in bold relief. was the friend of
my boyhood, the dipper. My heart
beat quicker. ! am sure. when I rec
ognizcd it hanging just over the roof
of the barn, as it used to at this sea-
son when j was lad. ana instantly
there rushed to my mind multitude
of boyhood rccollections. Having thus
paid tribute to the friend of my youth
full days turned to the other wonders
of the heavens. lashing down upon my
vision like the thousand times ten
thousand sparkling diamonds. Some of
the brighter ones / knew by name.
But who could hope to identify the in
dividual members of this mighty host
that seemed to crowd every inch of
space in the great vault above? 1t APP
peared as If there was not room
enough for them to move; as if they
were crowding each other. Yet we
know that the most of them are billions
and trillions of miles apart. And we
know that the light of some of them,
which has just arrived, started on the
long journey before the shepherds saw
His star in the East or the infant
Christ lay in the manger in Bethlehem.
The telescope brings into vision bill
lions of other suns. and the sensitive
film of the photographer records an
innumerable number of other and more
remote starry fields until there seem
to be no bounds to space and no limit
to these shining orbs marching in ma