IX 



SPRING JOTTINGS 



Ij^OR ten or more years past I have been in the 

 -^ habit of jotting down, among other things in 

 my note-book, observations upon the seasons as they 

 passed, — the complexion of the day, the aspects of 

 nature, the arrival of the birds, the opening of the 

 flowers, or any characteristic feature of the passing 

 moment or hour which the great open-air panorama 

 presented. Some of these notes and observations 

 touching the opening and the progress of the spring 

 season follow herewith. 



I need hardly say they are ofF-hand and informal ; 

 what they have to recommend them to the general 

 reader is mainly their fidelity to actual fact. The 

 sun always crosses the line on time, but the seasons 

 which he makes are by no means so punctual; they 

 loiter or they hasten, and the spring tokens are three 

 or four weeks earlier or later some seasons than 

 others. The ice often breaks up on the river early 

 in March, but I have crossed upon it as late as the 

 10th of April. My journal presents many samples 

 of both early and late springs. 



But before I give these extracts let me say a word 

 or two in favor of the habit of keeping a journal of 



