236 NATATORES. 



from a most graphic description of them given by 

 Audubon, we glean the following particulars : 



" The general spring migrations of the Canada 

 (lOose may be stated to commence with the first melt- 

 ing of the snows in our Middle and Western dis- 

 tricts, or from the 20th of March to the end of April; 

 but the precise time of its departure is always deter- 

 mined by the advance of the season ; and the vast 

 flocks that winter in the great savannas or swampy 

 prairies southwest of the Mississippi, such as exist 

 in the Opelousas, on the borders of the Arkansas 

 river, or in the dismal 'Everglades' of the Floridas, 

 are often seen to take their flight, and steer their 

 course northward, a month earlier than the first of 

 the above-mentioned periods. 



" It is my opinion that all the birds of this species, 

 which leave our States and Territories each Spring 

 for the distant north, pair before they depart. This, 

 no doubt, necessarily results from the nature of their 

 place of summer residence, where the genial season 

 is so short as scarcely to afford them sufficient time 

 for bringing up their young and renewing their plu- 

 mage, before the rigors of advancing Winter force 

 them to commence their flight toward milder coun- 

 tries. This opinion is founded on the following 

 facts: — I have frequently observed large flocks of 

 Geese, in ponds or marshy grounds, or even on dry 

 sand-bars, the mated birds renewing their courtships 

 as early as the month of January, while the other 

 individuals would be contending or coquetting for 

 hours every day, until they all seemed satisfied with 



