172 EIVERBY 



attachments and habits; that it, too, had a home, 

 and did not wander about like a vagabond. It had 

 its domain, which it no doubt assiduously cultivated. 

 Here it came to dine and meditate, and a most at- 

 tractive spot it had chosen, a kind of pillared cave 

 amid the cedars. It was such a spot as the pedes- 

 trian would be sure to direct his steps to, and, hav- 

 ing reached it, would be equally sure to tarry and 

 eat his own lunch there. 



The winged creatures are probably quite as local 

 as the four-footed. Sitting one night on a broad, 

 gently rising hill, to see the darkness close in upon 

 the landscape, my attention was attracted by a marsh 

 hawk industriously working the fields about me. 

 Time after time he made the circuit, varying but 

 little in his course each time ; dropping into the grass 

 here and there, beating low over the bogs and bushes, 

 and then disappearing in the distance. This was 

 his domain, his preserve, and doubtless he had his 

 favorite perch not far off. 



All our permanent residents among the birds, both 

 large and small, are comparatively limited in their 

 ranges. The crow is nearly as local as the wood- 

 chuck. He goes farther from home in quest of food, 

 but his territory is well defined, both winter and 

 summer. His place of roosting remains the same 

 year after year. Once, while spending a few days 

 at a mountain lake nearly surrounded by deep woods, 

 my attention was attracted each night, just at sun- 

 down, by an osprey that always came from the same 

 direction, dipped into the lake as he passed over it 



