No. 4.] BIRDS ON THE FARM. 113 



will be seen, therefore, that even in winter the bird popula- 

 tion is comparatively large. 



The extreme heat of summer is tempered here by the 

 south-west winds, which come laden, not with heat, as in 

 many parts of the State, but with the cooling influences of 

 the broad Atlantic and the salt flavor of the bay. The soil 

 of the uplands is largely of a sandy or gravelly nature, with 

 some clay deposits. Here and there rocks, left by the 

 ancient continental glaciers, lie near the surface, either 

 projecting above the ground or buried at moderate depths. 

 As is the case with most soils of glacial origin, there is 

 usually a greater variety in the character of the soils of 

 limited areas (such as are contained in the ordinar}^ farm) 

 than in soils otherwise formed. One may readily pass at a 

 single step from a dry and sandy soil to one very retentive 

 of water, where he will sink into mud ankle deep. The 

 soil being thus varied, the vegetation is, in consequence, 

 quite diversified. We have not only the pitch pine, scrub 

 oak, poverty grass and beach plums and bearberry of the 

 stratified sands of Cape Cod, but also the birches, elms, 

 oaks, maples, hornbeams, sassafras, white pine and cedars 

 of a more fertile soil. These and other trees both of the 

 coast region and the interior flourish here, with a profusion 

 of berries of all native kinds, except perhaps the raspberry, 

 high blackberr}^ barberr}^ and wild strawberry, none of 

 which are plentiful. There are very few nut and ash trees 

 or Avhite oak groves. There is a profusion of wild flower- 

 ing plants, a great variety of shrubbery, and there are 

 grasses which are not found in the interior. 



A few birds which arc common oil the rocky hillsides of 

 the western part of the State are not common in Wareham 

 or its vicinity ; but their absence is more than made up by 

 the greater number of water, shore and marsh birds found 

 here. 



The tract of land which has been kept under observation 

 consists of the farm, extending from the highway at the 

 north to the water way — the river — at the south, together 

 with the lands adjacent, and the waste lands in which 

 the river rises and out of which it flows. From the shore 



