GLIMPSES OF WILD LIFK 173 



a home, and did not wander alxjut like a vaga- 

 bond. It had its domain, which it no doubt 

 assiduously cultivated. Here it came to dine 

 and meditate, and a most attractive spot it had 

 chosen, a kind of pillared cave amid the cedars. 

 It was such a spot as the pedestrian would be 

 sure to direct his steps to, and, having 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 work- 

 ing 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 ho 

 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 woodchuck. He goes farther from home in 

 quest of food, but his territory is well defined, 

 both winter and summer. His place of roost- 

 ing 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 sundown, by 

 an osprey that always came from the same di- 

 rection, dipped into the lake as he passed over 



