42 OUT WITH THE BIRDS 



to show that they were independent of wind or 

 weather, actually came up strictly on time. The 

 hardy horned lark, gray goose, and rough-legged 

 hawk had reached us as usual in March; and 

 following them as best they could, the others 

 had straggled along, till now in spite of the in- 

 clemency of the season, many of the summer 

 birds had come. 



We were out early ; for we had planned a lit- 

 tle expedition to the woods of the Assiniboine 

 valley. The easterly breeze, which had held 

 forth all the previous day, was still blowing 

 strongly; yet strange to tell it brought no rain, 

 even though the sky had been long overcast as if 

 in preparation. As we tramped off along the 

 trail in the direction of the valley, there was in 

 the out-door world the impress of early spring, 

 much rather than any hint of summer; and we 

 could not help but feel that if the birds governed 

 their migratory movements by the changes of 

 the season, they would have been at this date 

 somewhere about the Middle States. 



Just as we left the farm-house, a familiar note 

 came from far off to the westward, and there 

 dotted above the sky-line was a flock of gray 

 geese. Their small size, the rapid beating of 



