The Spring of 1852, in Illinois. 249 



touched the ground. The fruit-buds on peach trees were all 

 killed over two months ago ; and we fear that the buds 

 on other trees are much damaged by the ice on them in 

 the last storm. The ice was over half an inch thick, all 

 over the trees. The last winter, as a whole, was very disa- 

 greeable. December 15 and 17, the thermometer stood at 10° 

 below zero, and 29th it was 53° above, a range of 63°. (My 

 record of December is imperfect ; I have only 58 observations, 

 instead of 93 observations, as a boy broke my thermometer 

 27th November, and I began with a new one, evening of 

 12th December.) In January, coldest, only 19° below zero, 

 19th ; (as low as 24° below at Bristol, seven miles N. W. of 

 us, on Fox river ;) warmest, 28th, 46° above, a range of 65°. 

 In February, coldest, 29th — 2° below zero ; warmest, 24th — 

 55° above, a range of 57°. In March, coldest, 19th — 8° 

 above ; warmest, 25th, 68° above, a range of 60°. We had 

 March weather in February — February weather in March. 

 And this month is mostly like January. March 16 was fine 

 in the morning, almost like a summer day ; thermometer 

 63°, at noon — but P. M. it stormed, and rained, and at night the 

 ground was covered with ice, and thermometer only 30° above, 

 and it has hardly been so warm since. In the night of 29th 

 we had a rain storm, with heavy thunder, and one continued 

 flash of lightning — almost blinding — such as might be ex- 

 pected in July or August. Grass is not so green noio as it 

 was a month ago — then it seemed as though the spring had 

 come ; but since then we have stept back into winter 

 again. In this month, so far, the coldest was 6th, in the 

 morning, 22° above — warmest, 6th and 7th, at noon, 50° 

 above. To-day, 33°, morning, and 49° at noon. Some of 

 the spring birds have come. Geese werei, here, 23d Febru- 

 ary ; sandhill cranes, 6th March ; ducks, 7th ; meadow 

 larks, 8th ; robins, plover, and blackbirds, 9th ; brant geese, 

 24th ; long-billed curlew, 25th. (Geese are here, sometimes, 

 all winter — if it is a mild winter.) Beside these, the follow- 

 ing come early in the spring : Sivans, blue birds, turkey 

 buzzards, and wild pigeons, (fcc, (fcc. I have seen a pelican ; 

 it was shot within about 10 miles of us a few years ago. 



VOL. XVIII. NO. VI. 32 



