The lynx. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Walrus in 
     
     the woods. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Birds. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Game birds. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mosquitoes. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The forest in 
     
     autumn. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ’Si/ver Frost’ in 
     
     the woods. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Forest clearance 
     
     and climate 
     
     change. 
     
    
   
   
    
     injury has been done by these mischievous animals, although they have been known 
     
     to appear in such swarms, previously to that period, as to cut down whole fields of 
     
     wheat in one night. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Bats, of an inferior size, are common in summer. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The loup-cervier, commonly called the wild cat, is of the genus fe/inum . The fur 
     
     is not very valuable. These animals are rather numerous . Numbers of sheep are 
     
     destroyed by them; and one will kill several of those unresisting creatures during a 
     
     night, as they suck the blood only, leaving the flesh untouched. 
     
    
   
   
    
     For many years after the settlement of the island, walruses, or sea cows, frequented 
     
     different places along the shores, None of these animals have appeared near the 
     
     shores for thirty years . They have been known sometimes to enter some distance 
     
     into the woods, and persons acquainted with them, have got between them and the 
     
     sea, and urged them on with a sharp pointed pole, until they got the whole drove a 
     
     sufficient distance from the water, when they fell to, and killed these immense 
     
     animals, thus incapable of resistance out of their element. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The birds most common on the island are the following, [He lists 53 birds of which 
     
     about 35 are terrestrial species] 
     
    
   
   
    
     Partridges are larger and considered finer than in England. A provincial law prohibits 
     
     the shooting of them between the lst of April, and the lst of September. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Wild pigeons arrive in great flocks in summer, from the southward, and breed in the 
     
     wood. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mosquitos and sand-flies are exceedingly annoying during the heat of summer; in the 
     
     neighbourhood of marshes, and in the woods: where the lands are cleared to any 
     
     extent, they are seldom troublesome. 
     
    
   
   
    
     CHAPTER lV. Climate. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The leaves of the forest from this period He. October] change their verdure into the 
     
     most brilliant and rich colours, exhibiting the finest tints and shades of red, yellow, 
     
     and sap—green, blended with violet, purple, and brown. The peculiar charms and 
     
     splendour which this change imparts to American scenery, exhibits one of the richest 
     
     landscapes in nature, and never could the pencil of an artist be engaged in a more 
     
     interesting subject. Ip. 40] 
     
    
   
   
    
     A phenomenon appears frequently during winter, known here by the appellation of 
     
     Silver Frost. a fine misty rain adheres and freezes, incrusting every tree, shrub, 
     
     and whatever else is exposed to the weather with ice. The forest assumes in 
     
     consequence, the most magnificent splendour, and continues in this state until it 
     
     thaws, or until the icy shell is shaken off by the winds. The woods, while in this 
     
     state, especially if the sun shine, exhibit the most brilliant appearance. ip. 42] 
     
    
   
   
    
     It is maintained by some writers, that the air and earth undergo a considerable 
     
     alteration of temperature when the land is cleared of wood; first, from the ground 
     
     being exposed to the sun’s rays, which cause the waters to evaporate more 
     
     copiously; secondly, by lessening the quantity and duration of snow; and thirdly, by 
     
     introducing warm winds through the openings made. From the observations of old 
     
     people who have lived fifty or sixty years in America, there is no doubt that the 
     
     climate has become much milder, and that the duration of the winter is much shorter. 
     
     Whether this may be attributed to clearing the land of woods will always remain 
     
    
   
   
    
     115