154 SCRAPING Ay UAINTANCE. 
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. 
co A he ~ 
