STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIKTV. 163 



I will say uothiiijj: on the necessity of forests for w iii(ll)reaks. for 

 moisture, for the niodifyinj^' of our climate, for useful and necessary 

 timber sn|)i)ly. Siuh tliou»>hts as these are not needed in this con- 

 vention, and those who are absorbed in the mere makiiij;' of money, 

 that they deform the natural beauty which the Divine An hitect lias 

 so bountifully ^iven, are incorri<iil)le. and like the brethren of the 

 rich man in the Scriptures, would not believe though one should rise 

 from the (lead. 



The forest ureets nu' wlieu we meet. 

 Waving iu the place I set tliem; 

 "Time, you tliief, you love to ^et " 



Good things in your list. Put that in. 



G. W. MTNTER. 



MIGRATORY BIRDS. 

 , BY A. L. CUMMINGS. 



Comparatively few viirieties of birds are commonly seen in the 

 same places throu,<j,'hout the year. They come ami 12:0 with the sea- 

 sons with great regularity, and if seen later or earlier than usual it 

 occasions surprise. The crows, the bluejay, some species of owls and 

 our common game birds are exceptions. I believe the titmice and 

 nuthatches are considered non-migratory by most authors: yet as 

 they are rarely seen in summer in this latitude (42J° north ), T am 

 inclined to think they travel northward in summer as a rule, and re- 

 turn with the autumn frosts. I have been told in exi)lanation of 

 their summer absence that they leave the towns and o))en country 

 during the nesting season for the seclusion of the forests: that their 

 shyness and the ease with which they hide themselves in the foliage 

 is the reason why they are seldom seen during summer. T)o they 

 also reverse nature's law l)y ])reserving silence during the j eriod of 

 love-making, ami singing only at seasons when other birds are mostly 

 silent? I am not satisfied by such reasoning, and prefer to think that 

 verv few of them remain here during the summer. They could find 

 food in the forests in winter as well as in the orchards ami shelter 

 belts of our farmsteads, or the shade trees and shrul)bery attached to 

 city and village houses, and would not be likely to change their 

 habits and localities without just cause. 



Their j)resence in large numbers in winter, togc'ther with their 

 merry music, is the most cheerfiil feature of the season. They come 

 with the snow birds, or but a little before them, and are social 

 enough with them to Itelong to the same family. They come about 

 the time our r(jbins and blue-birds tly southward for the winter. 

 They are not governed by the calendar nor yet by the thermometer 

 in their flight. It is simply wonderful by what hidden t(degraphy 

 thev are summoned hither and thither. Sometimes their flight is 



