Where have the charms of summer gone?
Part of its sunny, azure skies
The bluebirds southward bore away,
And how could sunset splendors stay,
Or glory of the early dawn,
When not a tanager now vies
With orange-flaming orioles,
And humming-birds no magic bowls
Of nectar drain in gardens fair,
Or flash like jewels through the air?
Where have the summer’s beauties flown?
Afar on swallows’ purple wings;
With blackbirds’ iridescent throats,
And with the thrushes’ perfect notes
Of rapture into music grown;
With blue the indigo bunting brings,
A sapphire set with emerald leaves,
And finch-gold that June interweaves
With silver from the kingbird’s breast
And studs with pearls of many a nest.
When will the summer come again?
When olive warblers northward fly,
And to their hints of budding green
The grosbeaks add a rosy sheen
Of warming skies: O, not till then
Will summer come and winter die!
—Benjamin Karr.
[Illustration: ]
THE COLLARED LIZARD.
(_Crotaphytus collaris._)
The Collared or Ring-necked Lizard may be found among the rocks and open
woods of the plateau or in desert regions from southern Missouri
southward into Mexico, westward to southeastern California and northward
to southern Idaho. However, this is its general range, and it is not
common over all this territory. Though it has been known to ascend to an
altitude of nearly six thousand feet, yet it does not seem to have
crossed the Sierra Nevada range, as it has not been observed at any
point on the Pacific coast or the interior of California.
The Collared Lizard is so called because of the black bars, which
resemble a collar, and are situated between the fore legs and extend
across the back of the animal. They vary greatly in color, depending on
their age or geographical position. The back is usually some shade of
dull or rather dark green, or it may have a bluish cast, with numerous
oblong or rounded lighter spots, which may be either whitish, or various
shades of red, orange or yellow. These spots may be quite definite or
they may form quite continuous bands. The variations in color are much
more marked in the young.
Dr. Cope tells us that “it runs very swiftly, carrying the tail over its
back. In its manners it is perhaps the most pugnacious of our lizards,
opening its mouth when cornered, and biting savagely. Its sharp teeth
can do no more than slightly cut the skin.”
Mr. Frank M. Woodruff relates the following interesting account of his
experiences with this lizard: “I found the Collared Lizard at three
points in Missouri—Vineland, DeSoto and Pilot Knob. They are restricted
to the rocky glades, where they live with the scorpions and the
rattlesnakes. The only place where I found them abundant was between
Vineland and the old Kingston mines. During the hot summer months they
make their appearance upon the broad slabs of rock, often quite a
distance from their lairs. When disturbed they make a dash to escape and
usually in the direction that leads to their accustomed crevice, even
though the intruder is in its path. I have had them run almost across my
feet in their frantic efforts to hide. They are a somewhat terrifying
object as they run toward you. At this time they apparently assume a
partly upright position, looking for all the world like a small edition
of Mephistopheles. The negroes are mortally afraid of them. They call
them ‘Glade Devils,’ and the more superstitious believe that the souls
of the very bad negroes reside in them. A negro will never go through a
glade frequented by this species, and will make a long detour to avoid
doing so. The only time I ever saw a negro ‘turn gray’ was when I
brought one of these lizards to Ironton and asked for assistance in
capturing it when it escaped. They are so swift in their movements that
I found the best method of capturing them was by tying a noose of fine
copper wire to a fish pole. This can be slipped over their heads, as
they lie sunning themselves, as they seem to pay but little attention to
the loop as it touches them. By exercising caution it is possible to
approach from the rear to within eight or ten feet without exciting
them. They make delightful pets, if a lizard can be considered such. By
feeding them through the winter on meal worms and in the summer on flies
and grasshoppers they can be kept for a year or more.”
A NIGHT IN THE FLOWER GARDEN.
A FAIRY STORY.
The day had passed and the sun had gone to sleep in a bed of crimson and
gold. The wind blew softly, at which the leaves on the great trees in
the garden began to murmur; though it was evening they were not sleepy
like some of the flowers who thought it time to go to sleep when the sun
did. Sometimes the leaves were awake all night; you could hear them
moving gently in the breeze. The clover leaves were folded close in
sleep long ago and the Poppies declared they could not sit up a moment
longer. But the tall white Lilies, who loved the night, were wide awake;
they could not sleep when the garden was full of moonlight. They said
the Crickets were so noisy and the Katydids so quarrelsome that it
disturbed them, so they stood fair and white gathering the dew in their
silvery cups which filled the soft night air with sweet perfume. The
Roses were looking pale and sad in the moonlight; they reveled in the
golden sunshine and grew brilliant in the heat of day. But they were
languid now and sometimes a little breeze would send their velvet petals
floating to the ground to fade and die.
The Pansies nestled low with closed eyes. You would not have known where
the Mignonette and Heliotrope were had you not breathed their sweet
perfume, for they were fast asleep. The Nasturtiums, Hollyhocks, and
Marigolds were still as bright and gay as if the sun, whom they loved,
could see them and they felt like sitting up with the Four O’Clocks and
Evening Primroses, who never went to sleep until very late.
But of all the flowers in the garden, the Sweet Peas were the widest
awake. There they stood in rows, dainty and fair, never thinking of
going to sleep, but trembling with excitement. You could see them
whispering together, for they had heard that to-night the Fairy Queen
was to come to the garden and would give a soul to some flower; which
one they did not know but hoped it would be to them.
A little Humming Bird had brought the news and had told it only to the
Sweet Peas, so they thought it must be for them that this beautiful
change was to come. Had they not heard that years ago a sweet flower
called Narcissus had been changed into a beautiful youth, who could
wander where he wished? What delight that would be! And had they not
also heard of Pansies changing into little children, and Larkspurs into
larks that soared away into the bright blue sky? Of Water Lilies
changing into maidens, who made their homes under the green waves? And
they had always thought that myriads of brilliant flowers were changed
into the daintiest of all things. The little Humming Birds must have
been flowers at one time, for they were always hovering around them,
kissing them and making love to them. Oh! if the Fairy Queen would only
change them into birds, or velvet bees, or, better still, into the
beautiful butterflies, that came to them so often and fluttered like a
cloud around them. Yes, they would rather be butterflies than anything
else.
Slowly the moonlight faded from the flowers, the shadows of the night
deepened and the soft dew fell like a benediction. A Fairy form floated
over the sweetest of blossoms, then disappeared, and all was dark and
silent save a gentle flutter, as of wings.
But in the morning when the sunbeams had awakened the sleeping blossoms,
a flight of bright-winged Butterflies floated in the air or lighted for
a moment on the flowers, but the Sweet Peas had all disappeared and were
nowhere to be seen.
Fannie Wright Dixon.