It seemed novel enough to find within two miles of the White
House a simple woodsman chopping away as if no President was being
inaugurated! Some puppies, snugly nestled in the cavity of an old
hollow tree, he said, belonged to a wild dog. I imagine I saw the
'wild dog,' on the other side of Rock Creek, in a great state of grief
and trepidation, running up and down, crying and yelping, and looking
wistfully over the swollen flood, which the poor thing had not the
courage to brave. This day, for the first time, I heard the song of
the Canada sparrow, a soft, sweet note, almost running into a warble.
Saw a small, black velvety butterfly with a yellow border to its
wings. Under a warm bank found two flowers of the houstonia in bloom.
Saw frogs' spawn near Piny Branch, and heard the hyla."
Among the first birds that make their appearance in Washington is the
crow blackbird. He may come any time after the 1st of March. The birds
congregate in large flocks, and frequent groves and parks, alternately
swarming in the treetops and filling the air with their sharp jangle,
and alighting on the ground in quest of food, their polished coats
glistening in the sun from very blackness as they walk about.
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