156 WONDERS OF ORGANIC LIFE, 



strained to wing their way southwards when 

 the sea becomes ice- locked, and the land buried 

 beneath a mass of hardened snow. Not only 

 do water birds, or, as they are usually termed, 

 "wild fowl," then visit us, but other species 

 also, which, although permanent residents in 

 our island, are not permanent in more northern 

 latitudes. Among these we may enumerate the 

 thrush, the skylark, the golden-crested wren, 

 the snipe, and the woodcock ; other species, 

 again, as the redwing, the fieldfare, the redpole, 

 the siskin, etc., which are truly indigenous in 

 high northern latitudes, conjoin with the former 

 to enjoy the luxury of our comparatively mild 

 winter. It is a remarkable fact that many 

 species of birds, which are permanent residents in 

 our island, are migratory birds in Russia, Siberia, 

 etc., and in this fact we have a clue to the migra- 

 tory habits of those species which visit our tempe- 

 rate latitudes in spring and depart in autumn. 



Let us paint a summer in our island, includ- 

 ing of course the temperate latitudes of the ad- 

 jacent continent. The warm «breath of spring 

 has called forth the buds of the forest trees ; the 

 snowdrop has given us earnest that winter is 

 about to depart, and the crocus enamels our 

 garden. But not yet does the swallow appear. 

 On the other hand, at this time our winter 

 sojourners arc on the move northwards, as if 

 to leave a fair field for their summer successors. 

 The grass of the meadows is springing ; the 

 young lambs are sporting .by the side of their 

 anxious mothers ; a bird dashes past — it is the 



