236 
NATATORES. 
from a most graphic description of them given by 
Audubon, we glean the following particulars : 
“The general spring migrations of the Canada 
Goose 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 c 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 
