Answers from quiz on page 5 1. False. As a matter of fact, male


robins arrive north ahead of female robins so that they can scope out terri- tory and fight amongst themselves for the best spots. The females follow later and choose a mate based, in part, on his territory. (They’re also partial to a good singer with nice plumage.) 2. True. Canada geese usually mate


for life, and the young stay with the family for a year – a full migratory cycle. 3. False, on two counts. Both males


and females brood and both actually lose the ability to fly, through loss of key feathers, while there are eggs in the nest. 4. True. American gold finches,


sometimes called wild canaries, spend the winter with drab olive feathers. They molt and switch to their impres- sive yellow display at the end of the winter, therefore, a yellow gold finch is known by some as a first sign of spring. 5. False. The longest day of the year


is the day of the summer solstice; the spring and fall equinoxes occur on the two days of the year when the sun is directly in line with the equator so that there are 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night all over the world. (There are more than 12 hours of daylight on these days, however, because the sun lights the sky before it is above the horizon and after it has set.) 6. True. Because the earth is


constantly moving, there is only an instant when the sun and the equa- tor are perfectly aligned. The spring equinox for 2016, by the way, was on


Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 11:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time. 7. True, but if you think this is the


only day of the year you can perform that feat, dock yourself one point. It takes patience and a steady hand, but you can stand a raw egg on its end any day of the year; the equinox has abso- lutely nothing to do with it – except, possibly, that the perseverance of this old myth keeps people trying to stand their eggs on end on equinox day and not on other days. 8. True. Astronomically speaking,


summer is a good five days longer than winter. There are approximately 94 days from the June solstice to the September equinox, and only 89 days from the December solstice to the March equinox. So no more beefing! 9. False. Crocuses – particularly


snow crocuses – are very early bloom- ers, but they can be preceded by galan- thus (snow drops), hellebores and other plants. 10. True. If a crocus is in full


bloom, snow will do it in – though, of course, the plant will survive to send up leaves and take in energy to bloom next spring. The blooms may be deli- cate, but these plants are determined survivors. The blooms close on cloudy days to protect themselves from rain, and the emerging plant can telescope back into itself if the snow flies before the bloom comes out. 8-10 correct: It’s spring in your head. 5-7 correct: It’s spring in your heart. Fewer than 5 correct: Maybe there’s a little spring in your left elbow. Maybe. h


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