104 FORT CONFIDENCE. 



was the lowest observed. On the 20th of April, 

 signs of the snow softening on the south side of 

 the house, contiguous to the walls, were perceived. 

 The day by this time had lengthened so far, that 

 I was able to read off the degrees of the thermo- 

 meter by daylight at nine in the evening. Snow 

 birds arrived in small flocks, and on the 27th the 

 snow began to melt in sheltered places, exposed to 

 the direct rays of the sun. Ospreys, gerfalcons, 

 eagles, and gulls appeared on the 17th of May; 

 and, from the 19th to the 23d, melted snow stood 

 deep on the surface of the ice. On the prior of 

 these two dates, the first goose was seen. The 

 geese approach the high latitudes as soon as the. 

 swamps are uncovered, when they feed on the un- 

 developed flowering stalks of the cotton-grass and 

 other Cyperacece. Their arrival is thus an indication 

 of the progress of spring, and frosty weather will 

 sometimes drive them back for a week or so to a 

 milder district. The impulse, however, by which 

 they are urged to their breeding stations is so un- 

 controllable, that in backward seasons they are 

 driven to the sea coast before the snow is gone, 

 and then, from want of food, they are in a very 

 lean condition. Their incubation, the fledffina: of 

 the goslings, and the moulting of the parents, has 

 to take place before the end of August, when old 

 and young pass southwards to spend the winter 



