THE CYCLE OF I III -I W)NS 23 



At that time the country-side wears a rather dishevelled aspect, 

 and draggled strips of what once was white snow fringe the edge 

 of the muddy roads. At length towards the close of March warm 

 i a in > have completed their task and washed bare the tawny fields 

 and pastures. Presently the subtle odour of spring pervades the 

 >o!t. ned breeze ; the sweep sap of the sugar-maples rushes to the 

 very topmost twigs ; and on all sides one sees sudden stirrings of 

 where erstwhile the features of nature reposed in death-like 

 silence. 



The first scouts and heralds of advancing spring are occasional 

 ^ of wild geese flying northward to their breeding-grounds in 



WINTER : AFTER A DAY'S DUCK SHOOTING. 



Mil> Arctic tundra or the cool meadows of the Hudson Bay, majestic- 



allv (leaving the air in harrow-like formation. So high do these 



wild geese fly that it is difficult to make them out clearly, but in 



of the distance their strident clangorous calls smite heavily on 



ir. The bleating of the snipe is one of the first sure signs of 



>t.il>hsht'd spring weather. Very significant is that sound, dowering 

 with strange grace the lonely marsh levels, hovering over some 

 Imv-lying barren moist tract stubbornly recalcitrant to the prosaic 



Irnunds of the farmer ; the drumming of the breeding snipe high 

 in the . K -.ir brightness of the evening sky sounds like some soft 

 i v\ ville to tender blue skies and all the pleasing activities of awaken- 

 ing nature. \Yith April come enormous flocks of the American 



