A LABRADOR SPRING 



pollen floated on the pools of water that came 

 from the dwindling snowbanks. Snowbanks 

 were everywhere, the largest often on the 

 warmest or southern slopes, a paradox that 

 could be explained by the fact that in the 

 southern lees, the snow, driven by the pre- 

 vailing northerly gales of winter, had accumu- 

 lated to great depths, and, although exposed 

 to more sunlight, took longer to melt than 

 did the smaller banks on the wind-swept 

 northern exposures. The larch and the canoe 

 birch, the mountain ash, and the red osier 

 were all bare and wintery, but on the ground 

 an occasional fresh grass blade, or the bud 

 of the cow parsnip, Cartwright's " alex- 

 ander," could be found. 



The presence of such arctic birds as snow- 

 buntings, making the green spruces look like 

 Christmas trees when they perched on their 

 branches, added to the wintery aspect of the 

 scene, and although the hardier summer birds 

 like the robin, fox sparrow, Lincoln's sparrow, 

 white -throated and white-crowned sparrows 

 had arrived and were in full song, most of the 

 summer residents were still tarrying farther 

 south, and had been passed during our more 



14 



