little; it is no serious obstacle like rain. The pretty, white spangles, as they fell on our muffs, in their regular but varied shapes, recalled a passage in Clarke's Travels in Russia, where he admires the same delicate frost-work as a novelty. It is common enough in this part of the world. Since Mr. Clarke's day these pretty spangles have received the compliment of a serious examination, they have actually been studied, and drawn in all their varieties. Like all natural objects, they are very admirable in their construction, and they are very beautiful also.
February, Friday, 1st.—Stormy day. A flock of sparrows passed the night in a balsam-fir near the house, and this morning we amused ourselves with watching their lever. We first saw them about seven o'clock, closely huddled together under the thickest of the branches; then a movement began, some of them came to the outer branches, and shook themselves; but they soon retired again to more sheltered ground, for the tree was covered with hoar-frost, and sleet was falling at the time. One would think the little creatures must have been covered with ice themselves, and half frozen. They were a long time making up their minds to get up such a stormy morning; then they busied themselves with preening and dressing their feathers; and at length, when it was near nine o'clock, they made a general movement, and flew off together in the midst of the sleet and snow.
The Chicadees and Snow-birds scarcely mind the cold at all; on the contrary, you often see them active and merry in the midst of the whirling snow and wind. Probably all our winter birds lodge at night in the evergreens.
Friday, 2d.—Milder; a little snow. This climate of ours is a trying one for the architect. In a mechanical sense, the severe
