94 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



for hours to the glad refrain, which even yet lingers in 

 my ears. 



But we have other birds besides those that sing, and 

 no lack of them. To realize how numerous they are, 

 and how varied in every bird feature, it is only necessary 

 to take a quiet country ramble not along the dusty 

 highways, for there you will only see the alien sparrows 

 but in the woods and through the swamps, over the 

 meadows and along the river-banks. Do this, and the 

 wealth of bird-life here will be duly appreciated, and 

 not otherwise. The truth is, our hawks are as brave and 

 our crows as saucy as any that can be found ; our quails, 

 too, are as gamy, our herons as stately, our ducks as shy, 

 and our divers as impudent, as those of other continents ; 

 and, best of all, there is an abundance of them. 



It is not my purpose, however, to maintain the supe- 

 rior excellences of our many song-birds, or uphold the 

 merits of those whose virtues are other than vocal. Those 

 who know our birds best, know well their capabilities ; 

 and it may be thought a mere repetition of what has been 

 often said before, to mention again either their songs or 

 their general habits. Nevertheless, I am led to do so for 

 the reason that I do not believe that the whole history 

 of any bird will ever be known ; and because I am con- 

 vinced that the nearest approach to it will be in the 

 sum of the results obtained by different observers, living 

 in widely separated localities. The things that I have 

 seen in Central New Jersey are not the same that would 

 have appeared to an observer in the mountains of Penn- 

 sylvania, in New England, or in the Western States, for 

 it is with the habits of birds, not their anatomical pecul- 

 iarities, that I am concerned, and these are decided by 

 the bird's environment. As this is widely different in 

 different portions of the range of any species, it neces- 



