1 76 AGRICULTURE. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



BIRDS. 



" And the birds sang round him, o'er him 

 ' Do not shoot us, Hiawatha !' 

 Sang the Opechee, the Robin, 

 Sang the Bluebird, the Owaissa, 

 ' Do not shoot us, Hiawatha ! ' " LONGFELLOW. 



MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS. As winter goes and the warm spring 

 begins, the buds show life and the grass shoots up. Then we 

 look for the return of the birds. They come back to us at first 

 two by two, or in small flocks. Sometimes we see great flocks 

 flying past, high over head, steering straight north for the 

 regions where they may find food and nesting places. They 

 went far south to escape the winter's snow and cold, and they 

 come back to us to build their nests and rear their young. A 

 few of the fliers may stay with us all winter long if they find 

 their natural shelter, but most of them fly south in the fall and 

 return in the spring. We look for their coming as we look for 

 the spring, and we are never disappointed, though year by year 

 we see many changes. Some birds are missed and new kinds 

 are welcomed. The bluebirds, for instance, may disappear 

 for a few years. We think they have been driven out or de- 

 stroyed. If our eyes and ears are trained, however, we may 

 see and hear them passing to new fields further north, flock 

 after flock of thousands passing by overhead in the early 

 morning. 



USES OF BIRDS. Sometimes we think they do more harm 

 than good, and we are apt to call them a nuisance. But how 

 we would miss them ! If their singing and chattering were 

 completely silenced, we would soon wish for their return; and 



