154 SCRAPING ACQUAINTANCE. 



tices his lofty tumbling in the suburban pas- 

 tures, snarling and scolding at all comers ; the 

 flowing Potomac still yields " a blameless 

 sport " to the fish-crow and the kingfisher ; the 

 orchard oriole continues to whistle in front of 

 the Agricultural Department, and the crow 

 blackbird to parade back and forth over the 

 Smithsonian lawns. Presidents and senators 

 may come and go, be praised and vilified, and 

 then in turn forgotten ; but the birds are sub- 

 ject to no such mutations. It is a foolish 

 thought, but sometimes their happy careless- 

 ness seems the better part. 



