Notes
[September]
September First
In various localities the Oswego tea is known as "bee balm," "fragrant balm," "Indian plume," and "mountain mint." "The bee balm especially haunts those cool brooks, and its rounded flower-clusters touch with warmth the shadows of the deep woods of midsummer. The Indians named the flower, o-gee-chee, 'flaming flower,' and are said to have made a tea-like decoction from the blossoms." (Dana.)
September Second
Small mammals are abundant in the Adirondacks. Chipmunks and red squirrels are very tame, and if one sits still in the woods they will approach within a few feet. By watching at the base of logs and stumps, you can often see a red-backed mouse or a long-tailed shrew. The latter is the smallest of American mammals, its body being scarcely two inches in length.
September Third
Mr. Scudder says that katydids have a day and a night song. He has watched one, and when a cloud obscured the sky, it, and all of those within his hearing, stopped singing and began their night song, but as soon as the sun came out, they again changed to their original song.