NOTES BY THE WAY. 171 



the first spring morning ! And, as if to make the 

 prophecy complete, there is the note of a bluebird, 

 and it is not yet nine o'clock." Then others, and 

 still others, were heard. How did they know it was 

 going to be a suitable day for them to put in an ap- 

 pearance ? It seemed as if they must have been 

 waiting somewhere close by for the first warm day, 

 like actors behind the scenes, the moment the cur- 

 tain was lifted, they were ready and rushed upon the 

 stage. The third warm day, and behold, all the prin- 

 cipal performers come rushing in. Song-sparrows, 

 cow-blackbirds, grackles, the meadow-lark, cedar-birds, 

 the phoebe-bird, and hark ! what bird laughter was 

 that ? the robins, hurrah ! the robins ! Not two or 

 three, but a score or two of them ; they are following 

 the river valley north, and they stop in the trees from 

 time to time, and give vent to their gladness". It is 

 like a summer picnic of school children suddenly let 

 loose in a wood ; they sing, shout, whistle, squeal, 

 call, etc., in the most blithesome strains. The warm 

 wave has brought the birds upon its crest ; or some 

 barrier has given way, the levee of winter has broken, 

 and spring comes like an inundation. No doubt, the 

 snow and the frost will stop the crevasse again, but 

 only for a brief season. 



Between the 10th and the 15th of March, in the 

 Middle and Eastern States, we are pretty sure to have 

 one or more of these spring days. Bright days, clear 

 days, may have been plenty all winte'* ; but the air 

 Uras a desert, the sky transparent ice ; now the sky 



