BIRDS IN GENERAL. 27 



est, and by far the greatest number, make good 

 their intention ; but many there are who, not 

 well apprized of their own force for the under- 

 taking, grow weary in the way, and, quite spent 

 by the fatigues of their flight, drop down into the 

 Sea, and sometimes upon deck, thus becoming an 

 easy prey to the mariner. 



Of the vast quantity of water-fowl that fre- 

 quent our shores, it is amazing to reflect how few 

 are known to breed here. The cause that prin- 

 cipally urges them to leave this country seems to 

 be, not merely the want of food, but the desire 

 of a secure retreat. Our country is too populous 

 for birds so shy and timid as the greatest number 

 of these are. When great part of our island was 

 a mere waste, an uncultivated tract of woods and 

 marshes, many species of birds which now mi- 

 grate remained with us throughout the year. The 

 great heron and the crane, that have now for- 

 saken this country, in former times bred familiar- 

 ly in our marshes, and seemed to animate our 

 fens. Their nests, like those of most cloven- 

 footed water-fowl, were built on the ground, and 

 exposed to every invader. But as rural economy 

 increased, these animals were more and more dis- 

 turbed. Before they had little to fear, as the 

 surrounding marsh defended them from all the 

 carnivorous quadrupeds, and their own strength 

 from birds of prey ; but upon the intrusion of 

 man, and by a long series of alarms, they have at 

 length been obliged to seek, during the summer, 

 some lonely habitation at a safe distance from 

 every destroyer. 



