349 



XXVI. 



DECEMBER 31st. 



Drifted Snow. Inconvenience of intense Cold little felt Effects more 

 external than internal. Frozen Feet of Poultry. Semi-congelation 

 of Water. Sleigh- riding. Occupations of Winter. Tending Stock. 

 Threshing. Cutting Fuel Rails. Brown Creeper. Grubs of 

 Beetles. Winter Gnat. Snow-bunting. Yellow-birds [Pine-finch, 

 note], Gleam of the Woodman's Axe. Arvicola. Insects. Hip- 

 pobosca. Blue Jay. Size of Trees. Structure of Trees. Death by 

 Girdling. Excrescences. Close of the Year. Conclusion. 



CHARLES. What curious and beautiful forms the drifted 

 snow assumes ! here it lies in gentle undulations, swelling 

 and sinking ; there in little ripples, like the sand of a sea 

 beach ; - here it stands up like a perpendicular wall ; there 

 like a conical hill : here it is a long deep trench ; there a 

 flat overhanging table ; but one of the prettiest sights is that 

 which is presented by a lumber- shed hung with cobwebs, 

 after a drift. The snow in greater or less masses has at- 

 tached itself to the cobwebs, and hangs from the rafters and 

 walls, and from corner to corner, in graceful drapery of the 

 purest white; but of such fantastic shapes, as we don't 

 readily see. 



FATHER The heavy masses of snow which rest on the 



flat horizontal boughs of the spruces and hemlocks after a 

 fall, are striking and beautiful : but these must be gently 

 deposited, or they will not rest ; they are not drifted ; a very 

 slight wind is sufficient to shake them off. 



