BIRDS OF THE SNOW 



NO fact of natural history is more interesting, 

 or more significant of the poetry of evolu- 

 tion, than the distribution of birds over the entire 

 surface of the world. They have overcome count- 

 less obstacles, and adapted themselves to all con- 

 ditions. The last faltering glance which the Arctic 

 explorer sends toward his coveted goal, ere he 

 admits defeat, shows flocks of snow buntings 

 active with warm life; the storm-tossed mariner 

 in the midst of the sea, is followed, encircled, by 

 the steady, tireless flight of the albatross; the 

 fever-stricken wanderer in tropical jungles listens 

 to the sweet notes of birds amid the stagnant 

 pools ; while the thirsty traveller in the desert is 

 ever watched by the distant buzzards. Finally 

 when the intrepid climber, at the risk of life and 

 limb, has painfully made his way to the summit 

 of the most lofty peak, far, far above him, in the 

 blue expanse of thin air, he can distinguish the 

 form of a majestic eagle or condor. 



At the approach of winter the flowers and 

 insects about us die, but most of the birds take 

 wing and fly to a more temperate climate, while 

 their place is filled with others which have spent 

 the summer farther to the north. Thus without 

 stirring from our doorway we may become 



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