time'" and while the bird is uttering the sound of whip-poor-will, or weecolis, they will repeat the word '■' Ilacki- 

 hfvk," which is " plant the ground." 



§. XXIV. 



I am of opinion, that all the bird.s which are mentioned in the tables, with the exception of the Alauda niag-na 

 (Meadow-Lark), Tetrao virginianus (Partridge), and a very few others, are migTatory birds, or birds of passage. But 

 I do not expect that this opinion will bo universally received by naturalists. In almost every coimtry m which natu- 

 ral history has been cultivated, the places of retreat of birds at the times of their disappearance has been a matter 

 of dispute. The question concerning the Swallows is not yet settled ; and in this country the notion which I deem 

 an erroneous one with respect to these birds is gaining ground.* The sportsmen find still gxeater difiiculty in disco- 

 vering the place of retreat of their favourite " Rail," the Eallus virginianus ; t whilst some of the Indians assure us, 

 that the Vultur aura (Turkey-Buzzard) passes its winters in the hollows of trees, &c. 



§. XXV. 



Some ingenious gentlemen, witli whom I have conversed on the subject, are even of opinion, that but a very 

 few of our birds are, strictly speaking, bh-ds of passage. They imagine, that some of these birds, at the coming 

 on of cold weather, pass into a torpid state, whilst others merely take shelter from the inclemency of the wea- 

 ther, in close thickets, in the hollows of trees, rocks, &c. without becoming torpid. This opinion may be sup- 

 ported by plausible ar-guments. Some species of Swallows have occasionally been found in a torpid state. In mUd 

 \vinter3, several of those birds which ai-e thought to be commonly migratory, are seen among us ; and even after 

 the disappearance of some species, such as the Motacilla Sialis, or Blue-Bird, one or two warm days in the winter 

 time will bring them back again. This notion is likewise favoured by the torpid state into which so many of our ani- 

 mals pass, and continue, during the winter season ; such as different species of Lizards, Tortoise.s, Frogs, Serpents, 

 and Insects. Nor is it merely the animals with cold blood {Saiujuis frujidus) that become torpid. Some of om- 

 quadrupeds fall into a similar state. Such are the Arctomys Monax, or Maryland Marmot (best known in the United- 

 States by the names of Ground-Hog, and Wood-chuck), and some of the smaller animals of the order Glires, par- 

 ticularly some .species of Dipus, or Jerboa. Other species, again, that do not become torpid, keep themselves con- 

 tined in close quarters, during the greater part of the winter-season. Such are some of the species of Squirrel, the 

 Didelphis Opossum (Opossum), and others. 



§. XXVI. 



These various facts, it must be confessed, seeuij to give some degree of plausibility to the notion, that our birds 

 hiemate, \ or take up their winter-quarters among us, and that they do not migrate to a distance. Still, however, I 

 cannot but adopt the latter notion. The complete disclosure of 'the fact, that the serpents, froga, some quadrupeds, &c. 

 become torpid, is rather an argument against the torpid state of our birds. Why should it be so much more difficidt to 

 discover the latter than the former in a torpid state, if fhey actually went into this state ? Ten thousand serpents may 

 be found in the torpid state as readily as a single Swallow, or Ilumming-Bird.§ It is recorded in some part of Mr. Bos- 

 well's ponderous Life of the late Dr. Samuel Johnson, that in a conversation which took place on the subject of the an- 

 nual disappearance of Woodcocks, in England, the doctor observed, that the discovery of a few of these birds, in the 

 summer time, only proved that the species does, in general, emigrate from the country. " JS.vceptio probat rei/ulam,'' said 

 the literarj- Hercules. I must confess, that to me this seems good sense. In like manner, the discovery of a few SwaUows, 

 a few Turkey-Buzzards, a single IIumming-Bird, or a few birds of any other species, deemed migratory, in a tur- 



* See Appendix I. P. l6. t Bee Appendix I. V. 17. 



I Naturalists, if not minute critics, will perhaps excuse the use of this word, which is at least significant, and is certainly not far-forced: a word 

 derived from the Latin verb Siemo or Sjiemo, which is used by Cmsar and by Cicero, and which was defended by Erasmus, in an epistle to Tonstall. 



