WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



torch of the statue of Liberty in New York Harbor 

 and every other lofty light along the Northern 

 coast. 



So they drift by us, journeying leisurely south- 

 ward through the bright autumnal days, follow- 

 ing the turning of the leaves till they lose the 

 richly colored carpet of the Northern earth in the 

 green velvet of the tropical lands, or hurrying 

 along over our sleeping heads through the gloom 

 of night, always fleeing from the chill and desola- 

 tion that follow hard after them. 



Is the habit of migrating on the increase, or 

 is it diminishing? Do birds tend to become more 

 vagrant or more sedentary? I am inclined to the 

 latter view. Many species, no doubt, have in mod- 

 ern times decidedly extended their range, owing 

 to the opportunities afforded by spreading civiliza- 

 tion, and in some cases this seems to have affected 

 the migratory habit, enabling birds, perhaps by 

 furnishing food or shelter, or both, to stay where 

 formerly they were unwilling to remain from one 

 season to another. This is likely to go on. 



It would seem as though this ought to be the 

 tendency, and that the migratory habit ought, 

 after a time, to disappear, because it is, on the 

 whole, a burden and hardship, handicapping its 



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