274 THE WINTER BIRDS. 



descending like a shower of meteors upon a field of grass 

 and eagerly devouring the seeds contained in the droop- 

 ing panicles that extend above the snow-drifts ; of a 

 company of Crows, rejoicing with noisy sociability over 

 some newly discovered feast in the pine-wood ; of the 

 parti-colored Woodpeckers winding round the trees and 

 hammering upon their trunks, — all these and many other 

 sights and sounds are associated with our ideas of the 

 happiness of these creatures ; and while our benevolent 

 feelings are thus agreeably exercised, the objects that 

 cause our emotions add a positive charm to the dreary 

 aspects of winter. These reflections have led me to re- 

 gard the bu'ds and other interesting animals as having 

 a value to mankind not to be estimated in dollars and 

 cents, and which is entirely independent of any services 

 they may render the farmer or the orchardist by pre- 

 venting the over-multiplication of noxious insects. 



The greater number of small birds that remain in 

 northern latitudes during winter, except the Woodpeck- 

 ers, are such as live chiefly upon seeds. Those insectivo- 

 rous species that gather their food chiefly from the ground, 

 like the Thrushes and the Blackbirds, are obliged to mi- 

 grate or starve. Thus the common Eobins are almost ex* 

 clusively insect-feeders, using fruit, that serves them rather 

 as dessert than substantial fare. A bird that never de- 

 vours seeds or grain or any farinaceous food, depending 

 on insects and grubs that may be gathered from the sur- 

 face of the ground, cannot subsist in our latitude save in 

 mild and open winters. During such favorable seasons 

 Robins in small parties are often seen collecting their 

 fare of dormant insects from the open ground. The 

 Robin, a bird that should hardly be called migratory, 

 never proceeds any farther south than is necessary to 

 keep him from starvation. Robins perform their migra- 

 tions only as they are driven by the snow. If on any 



