MIGRATION. 151 



As I have often remarked that redwings are some 

 of the first birds that suffer with us in severe weather, 

 it is no wonder at all that they retreat from Scandi- 

 navian winters ; and much more the ordo of grallce, 

 who all, to a bird, forsake the northern parts of Eu- 

 rope at the approach of winter. " Grallce tanquam 

 conjurattf unanimiter in fugam se conjidunt ; ne earum 

 unicam quidem inter nos habitantem invenire possimus ; 

 ut enim estate in australibus degere nequeunt ob defec- 

 tum lumbricorum, terramque siccam ; it a nee infrigidis 

 ob eandem causam," " (The grallse, as if by agreement, 

 take flight, nor can we find one residing here ; for 

 as, during summer, the deficiency of earth-worms 

 and the hardness of the ground prevents them from 

 abiding in hot countries ;. so neither can they dwell 

 in cold climes, for the same reason)/* says Ekmarck, 

 the Swede, in his ingenious little treatise called Mi- 

 grationes Avium, which, by all means, you ought to 

 read, while your thoughts run on the subject of mi- 

 gration. See Amcenitates Academics, vol. iv. p. 565. 



Birds may be so circumstanced as to be obliged 

 to migrate in one country, and not in another; but 

 the grallce, (which procure their food from marshes 

 and boggy ground,) must, in winter, forsake the 

 more northerly parts of Europe, or perish for want 

 of food. 



I am glad you are making inquiries from Linnaeus 

 concerning the woodcock; it is expected of him 

 that he should be able to account for the motions 

 and manner of life of the animals of his own 

 Fauna. 



Faunists, as you observe, are too apt to acquiesce 

 in bare descriptions, and a few synonymes : the 

 reason is plain, because all that may be done at 

 home in a man's study ; but the investigation of the 

 life and conversation of animals is a concern of much 

 more trouble and difficulty, and is not to be attained 



