ORNITHOLOGY IN 1851. 
uncovered, wlien they feed on the undeveloped stalks of the cotton 
grass aud other Cyperacece. Their arrival is thus an indication of 
the progress of spring, and frosty weather will sometimes drive them 
back for a week or so to a milder district. The impulse, however, 
by which they are urged to their breeding stations is so uncontrol- 
lable, that in backward seasons they are driven to the sea coast 
before the snow is gone, and then, from want of food, they are in a 
very lean condition. Their incubation, the fledging of the goslings, 
and the moulting of the parents, has to take place before the end of 
August, when old and young pass southwards to spend the winter 
in more genial climes. An indelible attachment leads them back to 
their natal places, and thfe ensuing summer sees them winging their 
way northwards in cuneal bands, with unerring instinct. Their 
arrival in a district enlivens white man and Indian. During their 
passage, plenty reigns in every encampment; and the dingy pot- 
bellied children, run about with smiling greasy faces, brandishing in 
each hand the leg or wing of a goose. 
The Canada geese come in the van, and remain breeding in the 
woody country ; snow geese next arrive and pass onwards to Wol- 
laston’s Land ; then the laughing geese come and go, holding a 
north-west course ; and at the same time with the latter, the 
Hutchin’s geese speed to the coast. 
On the 22d, pin-tailed ducks were seen ; on the 24th, swans ; and 
on the 30th and 31st, large flocks of snow geese and brown cranes 
passed northwards. On the 1st of June, bees, sandpipers, long- 
tailed ducks or cacawees, eider and king ducks, and northern divers, 
were seen; the catkins of the earliest willows also burst their en- 
velopes on this day. On the 5th, teal, widgeon, scaup-ducks, shovel- 
lers. and jagers arrived ; but on the 8th, the fur of the polar hare 
was still white. 
The progress of spring at Fort Confidence, subsequent to the 7th 
of May, is recorded from Mr. Eae’s notes, as on that date Mr. Bell 
and I commenced our journey southwards. 
To contrast with the above dates of the arrivals of the migratory 
birds at Fort Franklin, in the same season, are here added, the 
difference of latitude between the two places, being a degree and 
three quarters. 
“ On the 11th of May, under a hot sun, a pool of water bad 
formed on the ice near the Bay of the Deer Pass. We bivouacked 
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