16 TEN YEAES IN SWEDEN. 



have a little more winter even after this, but in about a 

 fortnight, when the yellow wagtail arrives and we hear the 

 deep trumpet note of the crane from the wild open mosses, 

 the last struggle between winter and spring is nearly 

 over. Some little time before this I have observed the black- 

 throated diver high in the air flying round and round as if 

 taking a bird's eye view of the country, to see if there is any 

 open water in which he can pitch. Within about ten days 

 from this I am certain the lakes will break up, and it is won- 

 derful when the ice once begins to crack, how soonit altogether 

 disappears. The action of melting has been gradually, but 

 imperceptibly, going on at the bottom, and all at once we 

 see open water at the sides. The ice then suddenly breaks 

 up, and if there should chance to be a little wind, especially 

 from the south, the lakes will soon be all open water. Still I 

 never fancy that spring has really set in till I hear the 

 monotonous flute-like call note of the ortolan bunting from 

 the fence by the green rye. The other spring migrants have 

 often deceived me, the ortolan bunting never. 



What an interesting and beautiful study is the migration of 

 the feathered race ! The very operations of the husbandman 

 and the sportsman are in a great measure regulated by 

 them, and the more attention we pay to this subject the more 

 regular we shall find their appearance, and many a useful lesson 

 both in the botany as well as the rural economy of a land, 

 may be learned by observing the habits of birds and noticing 

 their migration to and from each particular district. 



Man's constant companions in every out-door occupation, 

 cheering him with their plumage and their songs, affording 

 him often a principal means of subsistence, it is little wonder 

 that the study of the feathered race should be a favourite one 

 with all, and to that man whose time is happily and quietly 

 spent in the forest and the fields, it gives one of the finest 

 zests to rural life. 



The following table of the arrival of some of our spring 

 migrants into three different latitudes of this continent may 

 not be uninteresting to the naturalist. Of course it only 

 indicates about what time they arrive, and cannot be 



