54 THE MODERN PERIOD. 



When a district lias undergone tbis last change, — when the sombre 

 woods and the shade-loving plants that grow beneath them have 

 given place to open fields, clothed with cultivated plants, — the meta- 

 morphosis which has taken place extends in its effects to the indige- . 

 nous animals ; and in this department its effects are nearly as con- 

 spicuous and important as in relation to vegetation. Some wild 

 animals are incapable of accommodating themselves to the change of 

 circumstances ; others at once adapt themselves to new modes of life, 

 and increase greatly in numbers. It was before stated that the barrens, 

 when clothed with shrubs, young trees, and herbaceous plants, were 

 in a condition highly favourable to the support of wild animals ; and 

 perhaps there are few species which could not subsist more easily in a 

 country at least partially in this state. For this reason, the transition 

 of a country from the forest state to that of burned barrens is tempo- 

 rarily favourable to many species, which disappear before the progress 

 of cultivation ; and this would be more evident than it is, if European 

 colonization did not tend to produce a more destructive warfare against 

 such species than could be carried on by the aborigines. The ruffed 

 grouse, a truly woodland bird, becomes, when unmolested, more 

 numerous on the margins of barrens and clearings than in other parts 

 of the woods. The hare multiplies exceedingly in young second 

 growths of birch. The wild pigeon has its favourite resort in the 

 barrens during a great part of the summer. The moose and cariboo, 

 in summer, find better supplies of food in second growth and barrens 

 than in the old forests. The large quantities of decaying wood, left 

 by fires and wood-cutters, afford more abundant means of subsistence 

 to the tribe of woodpeckers. Many of the fly-catchers, warblers, 

 thrushes, and sparrows, greatly prefer the barrens to most other 

 places. Carnivorous birds and quadrupeds are found in such places in 

 numbers proportioned to the supplies of food which they afford. The 

 number of instances of this kind might be increased to a great extent 

 if necessary ; enough has, however, been stated to illustrate the fact. 



Nearly all the animals above noticed, and many others, disappear 

 when the country becomes cultivated. There are, however, other 

 species which increase in numbers, and at once adapt themselves to 

 the new conditions introduced by man. The robin [Turdus migra- 

 torius) resorts to and derives its subsistence from the fields, and 

 greatly multiplies, though much persecuted by sportsmen. The 

 Junco hyemalis, 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 



