EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 89 
sunny side of the hill, but not elsewhere. A 
partridge goes from amid the pitch pines. It 
lifts each wing so high above its back and flaps 
so low and withal so rapidly that it presents 
the appearance of a broad wheel, almost a re¬ 
volving sphere, as it whirrs off, like a cannon 
ball shot from a gun. 
March 8, 1859. P. M. To Hill in rain. 
There is a fine freezing rain with strong wind 
from the north, so I keep along under the shel¬ 
ter of hills and woods, along the south side, in 
my India-rubber coat and boots. Under the 
southern edge of Woodis Park, in the low 
ground I see many radical leaves of the Soli- 
dago altissima and another, I am pretty sure it 
is the Solidago stricta , and occasionally, also, of 
the Aster undulatus , and all are more or less 
lake beneath. The first, at least, have when 
bruised a strong scent. Some of them have 
recently grown decidedly. So at least several 
kinds of golden rods and asters have radical 
leaves lake-colored at this season. The common 
strawberry leaves, too, are quite fresh, and a 
handsome lake color beneath in many cases. 
There are also many little rosettes of the radical 
leaves of the Epilobium coloratura, half brown 
and withered, with bright green centres, at 
least.There is but a narrow strip of bare 
ground reaching a few rods into the wood along 
