In March the door of the seasons first stands ajar a little; in April it is opened much wider; in May the windows go up also; and in June the walls are fairly taken down and the genial currents have free play everywhere. The event of March in the country is the first good sap day, when the maples thrill with the kindling warmth; the event of April is the new furrow and the first seeding;--how ruddy and warm the soil looks just opened to the sun!--the event of May is the week of orchard bloom; with what sweet, pensive gladness one walks beneath the pink-white masses, while long, long thoughts descend upon him! See the impetuous orioles chase one another amid the branches, shaking down the fragrant snow. Here the rose-breasted grosbeak is in the blooming cherry tree, snipping off the blossoms with that heavy beak of his--a spot of crimson and black half hidden in masses of white petals. This orchard bloom travels like a wave. In March it is in the Carolinas; by the middle of April its crest has reached the Potomac; a week or ten days later it is in New Jersey; then in May it sweeps through New York and New England; and early in June it is breaking upon the orchards in Canada. Finally, the event of June is the fields ruddy with clover and milk-white with daisies. TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: The "oe" ligature is represented as [oe]. Title page: Changed typo "Cambridg" to "Cambridge." Table of Contents/Chapter VIII: Retained punctuation error in chapter title. Page 18: Added missing period to sentence: "The bear was fussing ... to burying it." Page 30: Changed typo "sudddenly" to "suddenly." Pages 31, 79, 95: Retained inconsistent spellings of highhole/high-hole. Pages 32 & 58: Retained inconsistent spellings of treetops/tree-tops. Page 38: Changed single quote to double quote in sentence: "Here, Jim, you do this ... thing through". Chapter XII: Changed typo "IIX" to "XII."