INTRODUCTION. xxxi 



Indian hemp, flax of the silk- weed {Asclepias species), and 

 other tough and fibrous substances ; but with a ready ingenuity 

 he discovers that real flax and hemp, as well as thread, cotton, 

 yarn, and even hanks of silk, or small strings, and horse and 

 cow hair, are excellent substitutes for his original domestic ma- 

 terials ; and in order to be convenient to these accidental 

 resources, — a matter of some importance in so tedious a labor, 

 — he has left the wild woods of his ancestry, and conscious of 

 the security of his lofty and nearly inaccessible mansion, has 

 taken up his welcome abode in the precincts of our habitations. 

 The same motives of convenience and comfort have had their 

 apparent influence on many more of our almost domestic 

 feathered tribes ; the Bluebirds, Wrens, and Swallows, original 

 inhabitants of the woods, are now no less familiar than our 

 Pigeons. The Catbird often leaves his native solitary thickets 

 for the convenience and refuge of the garden, and watch- 

 ing, occasionally, the motions of the tenant, answers to his 

 whistle with complacent mimicry, or in petulant anger scolds at 

 his intrusion. The Common Robin, who never varies his simple 

 and coarse architecture, tormented by the parasitic Cuckoo 

 or the noisy Jay, who seek at times to rob him of his progeny, 

 for protection has been known fearlessly to build his nest 

 within a few yards of the blacksmith's anvil, or on the stem 

 timbers of an unfinished vessel, where the carpenters were still 

 employed in their noisy labors. That sagacity obtains its influ- 

 ence over unvarying instinct in these and many other familiar 

 birds, may readily be conceived when we observe that this 

 venturous association with man vanishes with the occasion 

 which required it ; for no sooner have the Oriole and Robin 

 reared their young than their natural suspicion and shyness 

 again return. 



Deserts and solitudes are avoided by most kinds of birds. 

 In an extensive country of unvarying surface, or possessing but 

 little variety of natural productions, and particularly where 

 streams and waters are scarce, few of the feathered tribes are 

 to be found. The extensive prairies of the West, and the 

 gloomy and almost interminable forests of the North, as well as 



