Scarborough High School - Four Corners Yearbook (Scarborough, ME)

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20 THE FOUR CORNERS Sei temuer! “The golrienrod is yellow, The corn is turning brown. The trees in apple orchards With fruit are bending down.” in another month the fall migration will start and the birds of southern winter will leave us and migrate to the southern states. Although the grosbeaks, kingfishers, fiiek- eis, hohnlinks. and other summer residents leave hen , nuthatches, woodpeckers, and jjuncos appear to stay during the long winter. The cheery, irrepressible song of the chickadee may he heard through sunshine, snow, and tempest, as he swings around the dangling cones of the evergreens. It fairly overflows with good spirit, and is never more contagiously gay than in a snowstorm. What could be more glorious than God ' s wonderful gift to nature ( SPRING FEVER Spring had come, as it often does, and Bobbie Shaftoo was in love—madly, in¬ sanely in love and crazy with jealousy over the only girl in the world, little freckle- faced Mary Jones, who lived over the corner drug store and who sold sodas. One cool and balmy evening, with just the right amount of moon. Bobbie, who was a very romantic lover, went to quote poetry to Mary and incidentally propose to her. Marv received him coolly and as he started reciting soul fully, “My Mary ' s Eyes. she informed him that she was leaving for the city next day, never to re¬ turn. and that he might he so kind as to go home so that she might sav good-bve to her real sweetheart. Bobbie plunged along the street fully convinced that his heart was broken. How could she have 1k»pu so cruel when she knew how he loved her. Never, thought Bobbie, would be look at another girl. When he reached home, his deep sorrow had turned to anger, lie slammed doors and rattled windows, threw bis coat and hat on the floor and broke several phono¬ graph records. 11 is mother, hearing the noise, came in hastily, trying to quiet him. saying his sister had a friend visiting her from school and that he ought to meet her. Bobbie furtively straightened his tie. spit on his hair and was ready, lfe was introduced to Louise Marie and after hold¬ ing her fat little paw for about live min¬ utes, promptly fell in love again. Louise Marie, who was a shy little thing, never had such a violent lover before. She was rushed here and there, danced about and compelled to listen to such poetry as she never supposed existed, for. of course, when Bobbie was in love, lie was like any man. After a month of ardent wooing. Bobbie proposed. But Louise Marie, it seems, was to 1 m married the next month and her sweetheart was coming the next day to take her home. The next day Bobbie went to the train with her. He could hardly bear to let his la-loved go out of his life forever, but if lie must he would bear it like a man. In his heart he felt that he never would recover. The train puffed in and Bobbie, his eyes puffed out from weeping, put Louise on the train and turned away. He could not trust himself to look at her again, so he resolutely fixed his eyes on the ground ahead of him. He remained this way for alxiut five minutes before he realized that he was looking at the daintiest pair of ankles that he had ever seen. Slowly lie let his eyes open and then he gasped aloud and rushed to ask the station master where that charming young lady from the train was staying. A. 1 M., ' 81.

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THE FOUR CORNERS 19 COMMON BIRDS OF FIELDS AND WOODLANDS Spring! “I know the song the bluebird is singing Out in the apple tree where he is swinging; Dear little blossoms, down under the snow. You must be weary of winter, I know. Hark! While I sing you a message of cheer. Summer is coming and springtime is here ” With this song the spring migration of birds starts. After March twenty-first, one begins to see in the fields red-winged black¬ birds and juncos. Also in the woodlands you see brown creepers, catbirds, and flickers. Many of these birds, which have spent I he winter in the south, migrate here in large numbers, some to stay with us in the summer, others to fly on farther north. A flock of slate-colored jnneos on the new-fallen snow is a very interesting sight on a cold winter ' s day. These birds come north with the first hard frost, and about May they leave for their northern breed¬ ing ground. In the pasture, where the trickling brook lazily finds its way, is an ideal place to find the red-winged blackbird. Usually about the first of March, the male birds arrive in flocks and may be heard singing gaily while the ground is still deeply cov¬ ered with snow. Early in April the black and white creepers appear running up and down the tree trunks looking for insects, upon which all warblers subsist. These birds build their nests in old stumps or mossy banks where bark, leaves, and hair make a downy nest for the four or five little birds. Another bird of the April migration is the bam swallow, tropical bird of the air. Up in tlie rafters of a bam or in the arch of an old bridge is an ideal place for this swallow to build his bracket-like nest of clay, mud, and straw. “Merrily swinging on brier and weed Near to the nest oE his little dame; Over the mountain-side or mead, Robert of Lincoln is telling his name: Bob-o-link, hob-o-link, Spink, spank, spink.” Thus William Cullen Bryant described (lie bobolink, which migrates to us in early May. These birds build their nests on the ground, and after midsummer the cares of I he family have so worn upon our dashing friend that his song is seldom heard. In August the bobolinks begin their journey southward, living mainly by night. Arriv¬ ing in the southern states, they become the sad-colored, low-voiced rice birds. Could there be a more tragic ending to the glori¬ ous note of the gay songster of the north? A Hasli of fire through the air; the Bal¬ timore oriole cannot be mistaken with its rich, high, whistled song. When the or¬ chards are in blossom, the male birds ar¬ rive in full plumage and song, and await the coining of the female birds that travel northward, more leisurely, in flocks. Of all the weavers that I know, The oriole is best; High upon the branches of the tree She hangs her cozy nest.” Among the thick foliage of the tallest tree, the mellow and pleasing song of the scarlet fanager may he occasionally heard after early May. These scarlet, tanagers, tlu male of which is probably the most conspicuous bird of North America, arrive in their summer coats of vivid scarlet and jet black. In addition to exhibiting fas¬ cinating qualities of color and song, the scarlet tanager is of great economic im¬ portance to us, as it is a diligent hunter of noxious insects, especially those found among tree tops.

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THE FOUR CORNERS 21 SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE Jim Collins snt in his office chair smok¬ ing a cigarette when he hoard a newsboy cry, ‘ ' The Tinted States has entered the war! All about the war! Extra! We have entered the war! Jim jumped up and looked out of the office window and called to a newspaper hoy below to come up with a paper. After Jim bought his paper, he began to read about flic Tinted States’ en¬ tering’ the war. A week later his friends wore enlisting to go and help America. Jim did not want to go because he was afraid at first, hut his friends had enlisted and left Jim, so at last he decided to enlist and join them. Two months later Jim was in perfect condition, and was a big, healfby-looking young man. At last, the day came for his division to sail. It was in November, 1017, The I T . S. S. Leviathan took his division over to France. It took nine days for them to cross the Atlantic. They landed in Eng¬ land, where they had to train some move. This was not n very easy job, for every morning he had to lie up at live o’clock and start helping to get breakfast. After breakfast, they would march for five miles. When they eamc back they would have dinner, and then start drilling. Two weeks later Jim’s division received orders for ten men to be sent to an air field outside of a little French town just be¬ hind the lines. Jim was one of the ton who left at once for France. He did not arrive at the air field until a week later. These men were wanted for aviators, as they had lost so many they had to send for more. At first Jim was used as a mechanic, but at last he had a chance to become an aviator and sail in the clouds behind the joy-stick of a Spad. He was happy to think lie could pilot an airplane, hut how long would he be able to do it ? He kept thinking of that sometimes until it would make him almost sick. The first time came for Jim to go with the A flight, on the Dawn Patrol. At five- thirty the squadron started for ITunland, where they found it as hot ns ever; they crossed the lines. Now they were in Gorman territory looking for trouble and they found it, plenty of it. There were seven Spads in the A flight. They found six Fokkcrs floating along down below them. The flight commander gave the sig¬ nal and away they went in a long, steep dive for the Roches. Jim was terribly frightened, hut lie followed the others, ready to pick a fight with the Germans— and they got the fight. The Germans saw them coining, and they spread out ready for battle. Jim spread away from the others and picked his man. Jim’s man was the Roches’ flight commander. The sky was like a hornet’s nest. The roar of motors and the cracking of machine guns was deafening. Jim started a fight with the German flight commander. They surely did have a fight. Jim’s plane was shot to pieces quite hadlv now, but be hung on. All at once Jim saw the flight commander of the Germans in the gun sights. He pulled the triggers. He got him! The German went on his death parade. After the fight Jim looked for the others, hut, ho could not find them. He had drifted away from them, so he started homo. On his way he saw a bombing plane headed for his air field. Away Jim went just as fast as his Spad would carry him, headed for the bomber. Could he reach it ? He did not know, hut he could try. Jim