106 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



come, and the voice of the nightingale is heard 

 in our land; when the swallow and the swift 

 delight us by their rapid and varied motions, now 

 skimming the surface of the waters, now darting, 

 either aloft or with more humble flight over the 

 earth ; when the carolling lark ascends towards 

 heaven, teaching us to look up and learn from her 

 where to direct the best affections of our hearts ; 

 these all excite in us delightful sensations, and 

 merit our grateful acknowledgment, but still they 

 contribute little or nothing to the means of life. 

 The locusts indeed, who headed the list of emi- 

 grators, at the same time that they lay waste a 

 country, supply its inhabitants with food, and 

 thus make some recompense for their ravages ; 

 and a considerable proportion of the winter 

 birds mentioned under the last head, as the 

 swimmers 1 and the waders, 2 furnish our tables 

 with dainty meats ; but they come not in such 

 numbers as to add materially to the general 

 stock of food, or to contribute to the main- 

 tenance of the poor, as well as to the enjoy- 

 ments of the rich. The animals I allude to 

 under the present head, form the sole food of 

 some nations, and contribute a vast and cheap 

 supply, that covers the table of the poor man 

 with plenty. The migrating fishes are one of 

 the greatest and most invaluable gifts of the 

 Creator to his creature man, by which thousands 



1 Natatores. 2 Grallatores. 



