ipo THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



We feel quite confident that in exceptionally mild winters many- 

 more migratory birds winter in Southern New Jersey than ornitholo- 

 gists suspect ; and we can see, in the lingering remnant of the great 

 fliglit of warblers that annually pass through the State, that gradual 

 adaptation to surrounding conditions, on the part of birds, that as 

 centuries roll by, evolve, by that mystery of mysteries, the "survival 

 of the fittest," new species from the old. 



Again, long after the true insect-eaters, such as the fly-catchers 

 {TyrannidoR) ^ the vireos [yireonidoi)^ and the swallows {Hirtindi- 

 7iidce), with the chimney-swallow, humming-bird {Trochilvs colubria), 

 whippoorwill [Antrostoinus vociferus), night-hawk {Chordeiles pope- 

 tue), and the two cuckoos ( Coccygus America7ius and erythroj^hthal- 

 mus), have passed southward, beyond the limits of the State, and 

 scarcely a leaf is left upon the forest-trees, when not one straggling 

 fly-catcher, in a day's walk, can be found hovering about the many 

 spots so lately tenanted by myriads of their kind, we have yet the 

 pleasure of seeing, in our rambles, many a blithe sparrow, either in 

 the fields or about leafless hedges, or haunting the still green but 

 nearly deserted swampy meadows, and even, late as it is, an occasion- 

 al gi'osbeak, as it half conceals its gorgeous ruby and black plumage 

 in some dark cedar, while it utters in broken cadences a fragment of 

 its glorious song. 



Of our many sparrows, of which several are resident species, we 

 have noted down for several years, when the severity of the winter 

 was yet to come, even as late as December 14th, the presence of the 

 pretty bay-winged bunting (Pooccetes gramineus), and in less scanty 

 numbers the quiet little field-sparrow {/Sjnzella pusilla). In the wet, 

 reedy meadows, it is not until winter has encased in ice the tangled 

 grasses, that the swamp-sparrow quits its home. For two years past, 

 we have noticed that in the dry upland fields, all through November's 

 hazy Indian summer, the sprightly black-throated bunting (Phisjjiza 

 Americana) still remains, in little companies ; and in the quiet wood- 

 lauds, ever and anon, a retiring grosbeak [Hedymeles melanocephalus) 

 lingers, until biting north winds drive him from his summer haunts. 

 Last year, the indigo-bird ( Cyanospiza cyanea) until the 20th of No- 

 vember remained with us, singing as merrily from the bare branches 

 of the maples as when, during the summer, they cheei-ed their brood- 

 ing mates with almost ceaseless song. The bobolink, in spite of the 

 persecution they sufier from sportsmen, hold to their reedy haunts, in 

 scattering pairs, often until the first fall of snow, and this same bird 

 " reed-bird " in autumn {Dolichonyx oryzivorus) being seen so early 

 in the spring, occasionally, may possibly remain, but if so, very rare- 

 ly. A few red-winged blackbirds [Agelakis 2^hoe?iiceus), we know, 

 withstand our winters, and seem to find food somewhere and how, 

 even when the thermometer is at zero. 



This difference between the insect-eating and the granivorous 



