EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 285 
I hear late to-night the unspeakable rain min¬ 
gled with rattling snow against the windows, 
preparing the ground for spring. 
March 31,1853. The robins sing at the very 
earliest dawn. I wake with their note ringing 
in my ear. 6 A. M. to Island by boat. . . . . 
9 A. M. To Lincoln surveying for Mr. Austin. 
The catkins of the hazel are now trembling in 
the wind and much lengthened, showing yel¬ 
lowish and beginning to shed pollen. Saw and 
heard sing in a peach orchard my warbling vireo 
of the morning. It must be the fox-colored 
sparrow. It is plumper than a bluebird, tail 
fox-colored, a distinct spot on the breast, no 
bars visible on wings, beginning with a clear, 
rich, deliberate note, jingling more rapidly, 
much like the warbling vireo, at the end. I 
afterwards heard a fine concert of little song¬ 
sters along the edge of the meadow, approached 
and watched and listened for more than half an 
hour. There were many little sparrows, diffi¬ 
cult to detect, flitting and hopping along, and 
scratching the ground like hens under the al¬ 
ders, willows, and cornels, in a wet leafy place, 
occasionally alighting and preening themselves. 
They had bright bay crowns, two rather dis¬ 
tinct white bars on wings, an ashy breast and 
dark tail. These twittered sweetly, in some 
parts very much like a canary and many to- 
