274: DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



The birds that thronged the thickets to-day were emi- 

 nently suggestive. Most of them were from the north, 

 and here to spend the winter. "Were any of them the 

 same individuals that were here a year ago ? Perhaps this 

 is not so absurd a question as it may at first seem. Let 

 me ask, have or have not birds a love of locality as have 

 some mammals ? If such a feeling exists among resident 

 species, why, indeed, may it not among those that migrate? 

 And, too, of those birds that come to us in the spring from 

 the south, are there not some that visit the same spot year 

 after year. It is a widespread impression, and probably 

 based upon fact. The whole subject is one of great inter- 

 est, and has its bearing upon the subject of the permanent 

 mating of many species. 



In the woods to-day were dozens of white-throated 

 sparrows, and their pleasing whistle banished every trace 

 of the gloom that silent, leafless thickets always have. 

 Their presence brought up the subject of local attach- 

 ments, and I discussed with myself some points of the 

 question as I wandered along the hill-side. 



If certain birds that spend the summers with us come 

 year after year to the same spot, then there is no reason 

 why the same should not be true of birds that come from 

 the north to spend the winter. The fact that the former 

 nest here, and so have stronger reasons for attachment to 

 a given locality, is, it is true, an argument wanting in 

 the other case, but this want does not relegate the matter 

 to the limbo of improbability. 



Let us consider some of the common spring birds, as 

 the familiar house-wren and the cat-bird, for instance. 

 In the early spring of 1859 a little box was placed in a 

 tempting position for the benefit of the wrens. In May 

 of that year the box was occupied by a pair of these birds, 

 and during the subsequent twenty-seven years the box has 

 been tenanted regularly from May 1 until September. 



