144 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 
NATURAL HISTORY, METEOROLOGICAL AND 
GEOLOGICAL NOTES FROM BURFORD 
TOWNSHIP. 
BY WM. YATES, HATCHLEY. 
Feb. 14, 1904.—The present winter is proving an exceptionally 
severe one, with long continued blizzards, my thermometer indicating 
14° below zero at 8 a.m. Let us hope that the Arctic cold will soon 
be exhausted. Some Chicadees come almost every day near to our 
house, and even in the coldest winds sing at times their pensive 
Phoebee note. My son found a half-dead muskrat two days ago 
burrowing through frozen snow drifts, seemingly on its way to our 
farm. Qn the same day the dog captured a stoat apparently after 
our poultry, while a pretty red squirrel got caught and killed in a 
rat-trap in our barn the day before yesterday. I observe that the 
Chicadees, and occasionally two Pine Grosbeaks, harbor in a hollow 
apple tree in my orchard. The Snow-buntings have not been seen 
much since the recent deep snow falls and drifts have covered the 
Solidago and other tall weeds. 
We think spring will be doubly enjoyable after such a prolonged 
and unintermitting cold period. The small streams are now frozen 
nearly solid, and some of the local ice harvesters say it will be 
impossible to cut and gather the usual supply. The more far-sighted 
got in stores of itin December. The frost is also very deep in the 
ground, but if all goes well that fact is esteemed a favorable augury 
for maple syrup making operations. 
March 7, t904.—Winter seems now drawing towards its end. 
Rain and fog here to-day, with the thermometer at 42°. My son 
reports having seen ten or twelve Shore Larks on the highway near 
here a few days ago. Ina piece of woodland about 2% miles from 
here, in the midst of an extensive cedar swamp, my son tells me 
that Chickadees are numerous and familiar near to the wood-cutters’ 
lunching spot. ‘The dense evergreen growth gives warmth, food and 
security from many enemies to some hardy species of forest birds 
and rodent animals. When the trees fall there is debris and beetle 
