62 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



years old ; but it would be for the breeder's in- 

 terest to keep them at least till they were five 

 years old, as he would then be able to ofler a very 

 superior a:rticle, and to secure a price according- 

 ly. There is no meat superior to good mutton ; 

 it is wholesome, and possesses a flavor equal, if 

 not superior, to the best beef. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 

 BY S. P. FOWLER. 



The annual migration and flight of birds is an 

 interesting subject, and was thought by the an 

 cients to be a matter of real and indispensable 

 study and use to the State. Augury was regu- 

 larly taught among the Romans, and an officer 

 was appointed, whose duty it was to foretell fu- 

 ture events, by the singing and flight of birds, 

 appearances of quadrupeds and celestial phe- 

 nomena. A college or communion of augurs 

 was established, and it was held in high respect. 



The system and practice of agricultui*e among 

 the ancients was to a considerable degree regu- 

 lated by the flight of birds in their migration. 

 Whether we shall ever acquire so perfect a knowl- 

 edge of the habits of our birds, that by the use 

 of a calendar noting their arrival and disappear- 

 ance, we can, to any considerable degi-ee, improve 

 upon our system of agriculture, is perhaps some- 

 what doubtful. But the appearances and mani- 

 festations of nature, as seen on our farms, to a 

 thoughtful and cultivated mind, are calculated to 

 awaken devout and pleasant emotions, and when 

 accurately observed, denote to us the proper time 

 to commence and close our agricultural labors. 



The peeping of the little hyla and the note of 

 the bluebird is the unmistakable voice of spring; 

 the mellow note of the Baltimore bird and the 

 quaint melody of the bobolink remind us that 

 tlie yellow maize should be lain in the earth, and 

 left to "sleep in the rain and sunshine ;" the ap- 

 pearance of the blue jay in autumn, having left 

 the woods for our cultivated fields, proclaims to 

 us !)y its clamorous note, the harvest near ; the 

 call of the wild goose, over our heads, late in 

 autumn, as it pursues its southern flight in long, 

 converging lines, is a sure indication that the 

 northern lakes are frozen, and that the earth is 

 soon to be closed with frost ; while the appear- 

 ance of the shrike, as he descends from his home 

 in the mountainous forest, indicates to us the 

 approach of the snows of winter. 



To an ornithologist, the study of the migra- 

 tion of birds is particularly interesting. Many 

 of our land birds probably are guided instinc- 

 tively in their journeys by the course of our great 

 rivers and mountain ranges, and our water birds 

 by the trending of our coast line. But it is dif- 

 ficult to conceive of the instinct that directs some 

 of our birds, which do not appear to heed the di- 

 rections supposed to be apparent on the face of 

 the country, but carelessly pass along, intent 

 only in feeding, as they slowly progress in their 

 journey, taking no landmarks, and heedless lit- 

 tle creatures as they, do not even so much as 

 take a bird's-eye view of the country over which 

 they pass. For insiance, there is the little ruby 



crowned wren, that little atom of ornithology, 

 not larger than one's thumb, which passes from 

 Hudson's Bay, where in summer it breeds, to 

 Florida in winter, and back again to its northern 

 home in spring. In its migration in autumn, it 

 passes through Massachusetts in October, glean- 

 ing its food, principally consisting of the larvae 

 of insects. This little timid bird does not for a 

 moment, a])pear to lose its way, or, as we say, 

 get its head turned round ; but uniformly enters 

 an orchard or garden on its northern side, and 

 passing through it, from tree to tree, leaves it 

 from its southern border, and thus pursues its 

 journey silently and quietly along for months, 

 until it at last reaches the most southern portion 

 of the Union. In February, it leaves Florida in 

 its journey north, and arrives around Hudson's 

 Bay by the first of June, and after rearing its 

 young, leaves these nortbern regions for the south 

 about the middle or last of August. 



Although most of our small birds migrate to 

 the south in winter, the swallow tribe, under pe- 

 culiar circumstances, do not always conform to 

 the great migratory law of their nature, but pro- 

 vide themselves with winter quarters in hollow 

 trees, sand banks and the bottom of ponds. The 

 proclaiming of this singular fact, I am sorry to 

 say, disturbs some of my ornithological friends. 

 Well, the exhibition of unbelief upon this sub- 

 ject is nothing new or strange, more especially, 

 with those who hold that nature never contra- 

 venes her own laws. The parts visited by our 

 birds in autumn and winter are Mexico and the 

 southern portions of the Union. Mr. Nuttall, 

 who has given considerable attention to the mi- 

 gration of our birds, remarks that the greater 

 number of birds travel in the night ; some spe- 

 cies, however, proceed only by day, as the diurnal 

 birds of prey, crows, pies, Avrens, creepers, cross- 

 bills, larks, blue-birds, swallows and some others. 

 Those which travel wholly in the night are owls, 

 butcher-birds, kingfishers, thrushes, fly-catchers, 

 night-hawks, whip-poor-wills, and also a great 

 number of aquatic birds, whose motions are of- 

 ten principally nocturnal, except in the cold and 

 desolate northern regions, where they usually re- 

 tire to breed. Other birds are so powerfully im- 

 pelled by this governing motive to migration, 

 that they stop neither day nor night ; such as 

 the herons, plovers, swans, cranes, wild geese, 

 storks, &c. When untoward circumstances ren- 

 der haste necessary, certain kinds of birds, which 

 ordinarily travel only in the night, continue their 

 route during the day, and scarcely allow them- 

 selves time to eat ; yet the singing birds, prop- 

 erly so called, never migrate by day, whatever 

 may happen to them. And it may be here in- 

 quired with astonishment, how these feeble but 

 enthusiastic animals are able to pass the time, 

 thus engaged, without the aid of recruiting sleep? 



The migration of birds is a subject on which 

 comparatively few observations have yet been 

 made. Even the precise periods of their ap- 

 pearance and disappearance in different parts of 

 this continent have not been noted with the nec- 

 essary degree of attention ; and until persons 

 properly qualified shall undertake the task, we 

 must remain contented without being able to an- 

 swer the rather difficult question, "What causes 

 birds to migrate ?" 



I)anvers-port, Nov. 24, 1858. 



