414 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec. 



men. The Junco hy emails, a summer bird in Nova Scotia, 

 becomes very familiar, building in outhouses, and frequenting 

 barns in search of food. The song sparrow and Savannah finch 

 swarm in the cultivated ground. The yellow bird (Sylvia cestiva) 

 becomes very familiar, often building in gardens. The golden- 

 winged woodpecker resorts to the cultivated fields, picking grubs 

 and worms from the ground. The cliff-swallow exchanges the 

 faces of rocks for the eaves of barns and houses, and the barn 

 and chimney swallows are everywhere ready to avail themselves 

 of the accommodation afforded by buildings. The Acadian or 

 little owl makes its abode in barns during winter. The boblin- 

 coln, the king-bird, the wax-wing or cherry "bird, and the hum- 

 ming-bird, are among the species which profit by the progress of 

 cultivation. The larger quadrupeds disappear, but the fox and 

 ermine still prowl about the cultivated grounds, and the field- 

 mouse (Arvicola Pemisylvanica'), which is very abundant in some 

 parts of the woods, is equally so in the fields. Many insects are 

 vastly increased in numbers in consequence of the clearing of the 

 forests. Of this kind are the grasshoppers and locusts, which, in 

 dry seasons, are very destructive to grass and grain ; the frog- 

 spittle insects (Cercopis), of which several species are found in 

 the fields and gardens, and are very injurious to vegetation; 

 and the Lepidoptera, nearly the whole of which find greater 

 abundance of food and more favourable conditions in the 

 burned barrens and cultivated fields than in the growing 

 woods. 



It thus appears that, in the course of between two and three 

 centuries, large areas of the Acadian provinces have passed 

 through two or more of the following conditions: — i. that of 

 primitive forest; ii. that of second-growth forest; iii. that of 

 the burned barren; iv. that of cultivated fields. Each of these 

 changes is accompanied with modifications of the animal popu- 

 lation ; and in primitive states of society each would imply a 

 change in the habits of the people ; and, if very extensive, might 

 even cause migrations of tribes and important changes of popu- 

 lation. In the old world, most countries have passed through 

 these vicissitudes in very early times, and have subsequently 

 reached a more stable condition, with more slow and gradual 

 changes ; and in extensive regions it has usually happened that 

 the destruction and removal of forests have been effected piece- 

 meal, so as to extend only over limited areas at one time. The 



