THE CYCLE OF THE SEASONS 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 

 rains have completed their task and washed bare the tawny fields 

 and pastures. Presently the subtle odour of spring pervades the 

 softened breeze ; the sweep sap of the sugar-maples rushes to the 

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

 life, where erstwhile the features of nature reposed in death-like 

 silence. 



The first scouts and heralds of advancing spring are occasional 

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



! ! 



WINTER : AFTER A DAY S DUCK SHOOTING. 



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

 ally cleaving the air in harrow-like formation. So high do these 

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

 spite of the distance their strident clangorous calls smite heavily on 

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

 established spring weather. Very significant is that sound, dowering 

 with strange grace the lonely marsh levels, hovering over some 

 low-lying barren moist tract stubbornly recalcitrant to the prosaic 

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

 in the clear brightness of the evening sky sounds like some soft 

 reveille to tender blue skies and all the pleasing activities of awaken- 

 ing nature. With April come enormous flocks of the American 



