EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
99 
tering and ushering in the light, like the argu¬ 
ment to a new canto of an epic, a heroic poem. 
The serenity, the infinite promise of such a 
morning ! The song or twitter of birds drips 
from the leaves like dew. Then there was 
something divine and immortal in our life; 
when I have waked up on my couch in the 
woods and seen the day dawning and heard the 
twittering of the birds.I see flocks of a 
dozen bluebirds together. The warble of this 
bird is innocent and celestial like its color. Saw 
a sparrow, perhaps a song-sparrow, flitting amid 
the young oaks where the ground was covered 
with snow. I think that this is an indication 
that the ground is quite bare a little further 
south. Probably the spring birds never fly far 
over a snow-clad country.I see the re¬ 
ticulated leaves of the rattlesnake plantain in 
the woods quite fresh and green. What is the 
little chickweed-like plant already springing up 
on the top of the cliffs ? There are some other 
plants with bright green leaves which have 
either started somewhat or have never suffered 
from the cold under the snow. I am pretty sure 
that I heard the chuckle of a ground squirrel 
among the warm and bare rocks of the cliffs. 
.... The mosses are now very handsome like 
young grass pushing up. Heard the phebe note 
of the chickadee to-day for the first time; I 
