THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 59 
sound attends these rhymic pastimes of ‘‘ the gnats at eventide,” so 
that it is probable that these atoms of life are made happy with 
melody as well as with the grace and freedom of orchestral move- 
ment. 
II 
This winter is proving so far an exceptional one. We here 
have experienced no pinching cold and we have not noticed our 
thermometer lower than twelve above zero. We had, however, 
seven or eight inches of snow in the beginning of December, but 
blizzard-like winds have absented themselves so far, to the great 
comfort of farm animals as well as to that of their owners. There 
was a bland atmosphere on the 23rd of December, and on Christmas 
Day we had genial breezes and a light thunder storm, and during 
the week following frogs of two or three kinds were seen in the flow- 
ing ditches, and the tree frog was seen hopping amongst the leaves 
in the woods and a garter snake was noticed sunning itself at noon 
one mild, clear day near a fence by the roadside: and I have been 
told by some rabbit-hunting boys that woodchucks had positively 
been above ground, as their tracks from their burrows were noticed 
on the thawing snow. ‘This seems to me all but incredible. 
One of my acquaintances caught (shot) a fine fox about half a 
mile from my place beginning of December. It weighed twelve 
and a half pounds. By report fifteen pounds is said to be about 
the weight of the largest and fattest foxes here. 
__ A Hatchley fur buyer named Powell—our local storekeeper—two 
weeks ago told me that he has bought during the present winter 
2,400 muskrat skins, 400 racoon skins, 670 skunk skins, 450 mink 
skins, and upwards of 50 fox skins and two skins of the pine 
marten. These (the pine marten), it is said, were captured in the 
Muskoka district. The man told me that many of the fox skins 
were not in prime condition owing to the very warm fall weather, 
and they are said to immediately become first-class, in the quality of 
the fur and pelt, by the advent of frost and snow. 
III 
The past winter season on the whole has proved a very mild one, 
and characterized by an absence of violent and cold winds; the 
month of January was unusually bland with very light snowfalls, and 
even the big snowstorm of February was accompanied by a 
