EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. (35 
the fur countries.” Aud. Synopsis. They 
have a sharp bill, black legs and claws, and 
a bright crimson crown or frontlet, in the male 
reaching to the base of the bill, with, in his 
case, a delicate rose or carmine on the breast 
and rump. Though this is described in Nuttall 
as an occasional visitor in the winter, it has 
been the prevailing bird here this winter. 
Yesterday I got my grape cuttings. The day 
before went to the Corner spring to look at the 
tufts of green grass.Was pleased with 
the sight of the yellow osiers of the golden wil¬ 
low and the red of the cornel, now colors are so 
rare. Saw the green fine-threaded conferva in 
a ditch, commonly called frog spittle. Brought 
it home in my pocket and it expanded again in 
a tumbler. It appeared quite a fresh growth, 
with what looked like filmy air-bubbles as big 
as large shot in its midst. 
The Secretary of the Association for the Ad¬ 
vancement of Science requested me, as he prob¬ 
ably has thousands of others, by a printed cir¬ 
cular letter from Washington, the other day, to 
fill the blanks against certain questions, among 
w T hich the most important one was what branch 
of science I was specially interested in, using 
the term science in the most comprehensive 
sense possible. Now, though I could state to 
a select few that department of human inquiry 
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