324 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



during the last fortnight. The small marsh frog 

 (Hylodes) is heard. Eobins and song-sparrow sing fre- 

 quently. Camberwell beauty (Vanessa antiopa) about. 

 Ice disappeared from lakes. 



20. Fine weather succeeded by cold N.E. wind and 

 heavy snowstorm. 



21. A few sleighs out in the streets in the morning; 

 snow disappears at noon, leaving a sea of mud on the 

 roads. 



22 — 30. Fine clear weather ; dust in the streets 

 towards close of month. White-bellied martin (H. 

 bicolse) arrives on 23rd ; the gold- winged woodpecker 

 (Picus auratus) on same date. Wood frog (E. sylvatica) 

 and common spring frog (E. fontinalis) are heard to 

 croak ; both are spawning. Trout take the artificial 

 fly readily in lakes. Smelts ascend brooks to spawn, 

 and are taken in great numbers by scoop nets. Dan- 

 delions picked in fields and sold as a vegetable. 



May 1 — 3. Chilly, with rain ; all vegetation back- 

 ward, owing to cold easterly weather till now prevailing. 

 Wild gooseberry in leaf. Scarlet buds developing on 

 maple. The Hylodes chirp in the evenings. 



4. Bright and warm, with westerly wind. The king- 

 fisher (Alcedo alcyon) arrives ; also the white-throated 

 sparrow (F. Pennsylvanica), commonly called in Nova 

 Scotia the "poor Kennedy bird." The hermit thrush 

 (T. solitarius) is heard. The trilling note of the common 

 toad is heard in the evening swelling the chorus of the 

 frogs. 



7 — 11. Cold easterly weather ; much ice off the 

 coast. Green snake (Coluber vernalis) observed sunning 



