74 LEAVKS FROM THE BUCK o* 1 NATURE. 







fluence? And yet birds, who were raised from the egg, 

 who never saw the flight of their brethren, never heard 

 the voice of their companions, will, at the appointed time, 

 become restless, show an insurmountable uneasiness, and 

 when let loose, dart off, as if guided by the compass, to 

 join their unknown friends on their journey. Little, deli- 

 cate beings, these feeble birds of passage, supported by 

 the hand of Him before whom not one of the sparrows 

 on the house-top is forgotten, bear up against storms of 

 snow and rain, and make their way through such vast 

 turbulence as would apparently embarrass and retard the 

 most hardy and resolute of the winged nation. Yet they 

 keep their appointed time and season, and in spite of frost 

 and winds, return to their station on earth, to gladden 

 and cheer the hearts of men. Besides these birds that 

 visit the temperate zone during the more genial parts of 

 the year and add so greatly to the beauty and music of 

 our groves, in spring and summer, there are others, and 

 those a numerous tribe, that wing their way to the same 

 regions when the reign of winter has commenced. When 

 the Arctic seas, and lakes and rivers present an unbroken 

 field of impenetrable ice, various waterfowl, swans, geese, 

 and ducks, and an infinite number of others seek a warmer 

 climate to the south. In their travels each variety of 

 birds has not only its own appointed time, but also its 

 own peculiar way of arranging their vast armies. Some 

 fly singly, and some in groups, others migrate in thous- 

 ands. Most travel by day; a few only at night, so that 

 they have been found dead in light-houses, having flown 

 against the dazzling light. Wild geese fly in long lines, 



