noon
The last birds that left them , -LRB- and the first that returned in spring -RRB- were the `` snow-birds '' -- little creatures about the size of a sparrow , almost white , with a few brown feathers here and there . The last of these fled from the darkening winter on the 7th of November , and did not return until the 1st of the following May . When they left it was dark almost all day . The thermometer could scarcely be read at noon , and the stars were visible during the day . From this time forward thick darkness set in , and the cold became intense . The thermometer fell _ below _ zero , and after that they never saw it _ above _ that point for months together -- 20 degrees , 30 degrees , and 40 degrees below were common temperatures . The ice around them was ten feet thick .