Various

“ At other times you might think you are stepping out onto a sunken log imbedded in the mud, but find that the log suddenly gets very much alive, for under that slimy mud and grass an alligator was taking a sitz bath. You might have walked all around him with impunity, but walking on him is an indignity he resents quickly—so quickly that it is a question whether you get back to safety or are served up for the alligator’s dinner. Sometimes you may see an alligator lying motionless just under the surface of the water, with his long snout protruding. ”

“ As yet the birds have not taken all of the scarlet berries of the bitter-sweet vine, which clings lovingly, but with a somewhat parasitical clasp about the hospitable boles of the great trees. In color rivalry looms up the dark red panicles of the sumach, whose acrid fruit, which is a last resort for hungry birds, must prove a pungent pill to the feathered folk. ”

“ While hunting for food the Chuck-will’s-widow flies low, often but a few feet above the surface of the ground. In this habit it differs from the night-hawk, which, like the swifts, seeks its food high in the air. Now and then it rests, perching on old logs or fences, from which it will launch forth in pursuit of prey which its keen eyes have sighted. During the day it roosts in hollow trees or upon a large limb in some densely shaded spot.
It does not attempt to build a nest. The two dull white eggs are laid upon the ground or upon leaves in some secluded place in woods or thickets. ”

“ Break open the tightly sealed, varnished bud of the lilac tree, and out pours that incomparable fragrance of Spring, an odor that challenges all of the arts and sciences or alchemy to produce. One of the most notable trees in winter is the plane-tree or buttonwood, wrongly called sycamore, a term which can only be applied correctly to the Ficus sycamorus, or true sycamore, a tree closely allied to the fig, and a native of the far East. ”

“ When a Chinaman goes fishing he does not take a rod and line, as we do, but sets out in his boat and takes some trained cormorants along with him. As soon as he comes to a place where there are plenty of fish, the cormorants plunge into the water, catching fish after fish, and, at their master’s call, dropping them in the bottom of the boat. These birds are so greedy that if left to themselves they would eat the fish as fast as they caught them, so the cunning Chinaman ties a small piece of twine around their necks so that they cannot swallow it. ”

“ Jupiter inherited the heavens and became king of gods and men. When the Thunderer came into possession of his kingdom Vulcan, the celestial artist, crowned him with a chaplet of beautiful flowers, whose white petals Iris had marked with the colors of the rainbow, their edges being bright with the plumage of the peacock, which was the favorite bird of Juno, as was Iris, her chosen attendant, after she espoused Jupiter and became queen of the gods. ”

“ A pair of downy woodpeckers are constant visitors at the meat table. They seldom come together, but sometimes it is the male with his bright red head spot, sometimes the female, in her plain black and white stripe. She is very plain, indeed, and somewhat more shy than her mate. If an English sparrow comes to the shelf while either of them is on the branch, it quickly drops down beside him as if to say, “See here, you are out of place,” and the sparrow leaves without a taste of the good things. ”

“ The hunters must be so expert at their trade that as soon as the shot has been fired the man who did the shooting must lean over and grasp the alligator by the tail, pull him half way over the gunnel of the boat and hold him there for the quick cut with the ax in the back, which his partner must be, by this time, prepared to strike. All this is done far quicker than it can be told; so quickly is it done that often the alligator is killed by the ax only, and it is found that the bullet had never struck him, and he had only been either stunned, or so demoralized as to forget his own power. ”

“ But to the initiated and observant, it is now that the change worketh fast, and barely has the network of fretted branches, looming up so purple against an autumnal sky, become a realization, before the winter progress of the budding forest has changed the dreamy violet to a rich ruddy brown, in promise of a future fulfillment of a rich verdure of living greens. ”

“ Two men, provided with a light, easy-going skiff, a good rifle, an ax, and a bull’s eye lantern fastened to the forehead of one of the hunters, start out together. One man—the one with the lantern—sits in the bow of the boat; it is his business to “shine the eyes” of any alligator who might come within the radius of the light. The eyes of the game will shine like two balls of fire, and if the man is careful to make no unnecessary movements, and his partner is careful to scull the boat steadily and silently, they can get so near the game as to almost touch it. ”

“ Ernest E. Thompson calls the White-crowned Sparrow an aristocrat of the sparrow family. One of the largest of the sparrows, its beautifully marked plumage and its dignified mien, as it stands on some exposed perch, immediately attracts the attention of an observer. Its range is extensive, covering the whole of the United States during its migrations, and in winter it passes further southward into the valley regions of Mexico. In the selection of a nesting site a pure and cool atmosphere seems a paramount consideration. ”

“ In a few minutes they will be snugly tucked away in some wayside inn, some sheltered nook prepared by Mother Nature, where they will sleep away one more cold night, to awaken one day nearer the joyous springtime. ”

“ Blooming as it does in late summer, and early fall when flowers are scarce, the abundance of its great orange and scarlet flowers make a very showy spot in a dull landscape, and an especially attractive bit of color, if you happen to find a vine around which the ruby-throated hummingbirds are hovering, they being very partial to the nectar from its flowers. ”

“ But Dick never fluttered a bit and Mrs. Rogers patted Tiger again as she caught sight of a vanishing stranger cat disappearing through an open window.
“Brave old Tiger! Good little Dickie!” said their mistress, as she took the bird, unharmed, from Tiger’s teeth, which had held the bird safely away from real danger.
Dick flew back to his open cage, Tiger went back to his nap in the sunshine, and the lady visitor learned the lesson that love works wonders in even the creatures that do not speak as we do. ”

“ The common Persimmon of the United States (Diospyros virginiana) is a tree, usually growing to a height of about fifty or sixty feet, and rarely reaching one hundred feet. This is a beautiful round-topped tree with more or less spreading branches. The name Persimmon is of Indian origin and of unknown meaning. The fruit of this species is but lightly appreciated except by those who visit the forest regions in which it is native, for it is only cultivated to a very limited extent. The fruit is globular in form and quite plum-like. It varies both in size, color and flavor. ”

“ From some high bush or other favorable perch the male will pour forth an almost unbroken song while its mate is setting. Often this song does not cease with the going down of the sun, and it has been heard as late as midnight. It is a “lively, agreeable song, fine and clear, and is frequently heard from a score or more of birds at the same time with a most pleasing effect.”
Its song, quite closely resembling that of its relative the white-throated sparrow, with which it quite frequently consorts during its migrations, yet the two songs are readily distinguishable. ”

“ It drops from a great height when descending upon its prey, and sometimes it is seen to emerge from the water holding a fish by the tail, in which case it cannot very well manage to swallow it, so the fish is tossed up into the air and, turning a complete somersault, comes down head foremost into the bird’s mouth. The home of the cormorant is among the steep ledges of rock by the sea, where they build their nests and rear their young. Their nests are made of dry sticks, weeds and moss. The old birds return each year to their old nests, repair them and begin rearing another brood. ”

“ A well made nest is of the shape of a hay-cock, and very nearly so large. The nest completed, the alligator goes off to the nearby water, and leaves the sun to do the hatching. Many differ 232 as to the time it takes for the eggs to hatch, as much depends on the construction of the nest, and also on the heat of the sun. So, also, many differ as to the number of eggs a female will lay in one season. Some aver that eighty is the average number, but the writer has never found more than forty in one nest. ”

“ These sapphires are well crystallized and are of good average size, though few gems exceed six carats in weight. Their luster and color are for the most part of first quality, and the stones are in demand for the best of jewelry.
Noble Corundum of other colors than those of blue and red is not of abundant occurrence nor is it ordinarily as highly prized as are the sapphire and ruby. Colorless sapphire or leucosapphire is sometimes used as a substitute for the diamond, from which it can readily be distinguished by its lower hardness and higher specific gravity. ”

“ In a small town in Minnesota, noted for its several state institutions of learning, lives a widow whose success in the training of a cat has made her quite noted in her locality.
Tiger, the cat, is not famous for his long hair nor for his long pedigree. He is simply a creature who has been loved and petted into a wonderful amount of sympathy for his mistress and he seems to know instinctively many of her likes and dislikes, and he would no more harm Dick, the canary, who lives in the same room, than he would attack the hand which places the saucer of milk before him each day. ”

“ It has become a conventional habit with us to look upon the winter season as unproductive of artistic interest so far as Nature’s decorations are concerned. And we note it as a period of rest from the exhaustion of seed time and harvest. ”

“ It is a beautiful vine to drape a tree that is in itself not very pleasing, or to cover brick or stone outbuildings.
Its faults, and it is a shame to discover faults in anything so beautiful, are a tendency to become naked below, which can be remedied by cutting back, an over abundant production of suckers, and its immensely long roots.
Bignonia capreolata, named for the Abbe Bignon, who first found it, is a closely related species, of a more southern range than the Tecoma, being found in Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. ”