. Birds and nature . dreary, Is all around;Leafless the woodland. Sodden the hasten onward, Sweeping hoarsely Winters dull song. When the spring cometh. Pleasant and fair,When the clouds silver gray Float in the the blade springeth Upward golden sunbeams, Falleth the rain. Like tears in childhood Soon wiped thoughts of sorrow Soon lost in play;So, in the spring-time, In the green hedges blossom, Falleth the rain. While the long summer Parches the ground,While droop the flowers Sadly around;O, then, how pleasantly Once m
. Birds and nature . dreary, Is all around;Leafless the woodland. Sodden the hasten onward, Sweeping hoarsely Winters dull song. When the spring cometh. Pleasant and fair,When the clouds silver gray Float in the the blade springeth Upward golden sunbeams, Falleth the rain. Like tears in childhood Soon wiped thoughts of sorrow Soon lost in play;So, in the spring-time, In the green hedges blossom, Falleth the rain. While the long summer Parches the ground,While droop the flowers Sadly around;O, then, how pleasantly Once more againFrom the dimmed heaven Falleth the rain. When golden Autumn-days Once more have fled,When all their treasures are Dying or all earths glories Day by day wane,O, then, how gloorrfily Falleth the rain. Like tears in bitterness Shed by the lifes light fadeth And joys grow cold,When they no longer Here may remain,Mournfully, mournfully, Falleth the rain. Belle A. Hitchcock. 56 T , r :>{\ i. m ■1 ( <?; r THE SHOVELLER DUCK. {Spatula clypeata.) The Shoveller or Spoonbill Duck is abird of wide distribution, inhabiting allthe continents of the globe and breedingin the northern portions of both hemi-spheres. It is a bird of remarkable indi-viduality. It belongs to the pond andriver ducks, all of which group are moreabundant about fresh water than alongthe sea coast. On this continent it re-tires during the months of May andJune to the lakes and marshes, chieflythose of the interior, where it builds itsnest and rears its young. It is a common summer resiclent ofMinnesota and the Dakotas, thence itranges northward through Manitoba, As-siniboia and Alberta, Canada. Formerlyit was a common inhabitant of the Brit-ish Isles, in the fen districts of Norfolk,Scotland and Ireland, but there it is grad-ually becoming scarcer. During theirsemi-annual passage through Illinoissmall flocks of Shovellers are frequentlymet with on the Illinois and KankakeeRivers and
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