HABITAT AND MIGRATION. 45 



they seem to possess of the very day and hour of departure ; the 

 common consent with which they act, and the certain appointed 

 order which they appear to preserve in their flight, all are evi- 

 dences that a higher wisdom than mere animal intelligence, or 

 than even human reason, must direct their motions. 



THOMPSON, in his Note Book of a Naturalist, has well ob- 

 served, " The migration of birds is one of the most interesting 

 features in the economy of nature, whether as regards the great 

 diversity of species it embraces, or the manner and seasons in 

 which it is performed. With respect to those which arrive in the 

 autumn, and leave again as soon as spring returns, there is less to 

 wonder at, and there is less degree of instinct displayed. The dif- 

 ferent wild fowl, and some few land birds, whose habitat is pecu- 

 liarly in the north of Europe, travel southward only as they are 

 driven on in search of food by the rigour of winter. They have 

 no fixed destinations, and are mostly on the move from spot to 

 spot, many of them in flocks, as the circumstances of food and 

 safety influence them ; and notwithstanding the vast flights which 

 migrate to this country, it must be borne in mind that, perhaps 

 without an exception, there is not one of the varieties which is 

 not to be found as indigenous. That the Wild Fowl should prefer 

 the solitudes and morasses of the north for the purpose of breed- 

 ing is natural ; but that Larks, Fieldfares, Thrushes, &c. should 

 leave a country at the moment when the supply of food would 

 appear to be inexhaustible, is indeed surprising, and can only be 

 accounted for by looking to higher causes. 



The Swallow tribe, arid many other species of birds, migrate 

 without any apparent ostensible cause, leaving climates in every 

 respect adapted to their habits, for those which can offer them 

 at the best but a short and precarious season ; unless, indeed, they 

 come as humble instruments of an all-directing Providence, to 

 save us, as it were, from one of the plagues of Egypt, by rid- 

 ding us of the myriads of flies which would otherwise infest us. 

 The distribution of other migratory birds leads to this belief : 

 Storks, for instance, which rarely visit this country, are nume- 

 rous throughout Germany and Holland, where frogs abound. 

 The benefit they confer is so great, and so much appreciated, 

 that they are especially protected, and a fine is imposed on the 

 destruction of them. These birds, the Swallow tribe, and some 

 others, return to their old accustomed quarters with each suc- 

 ceeding spring, reoccupying the old spot, and, indeed, the old 

 nest, should it not have been destroyed in the interim. The 

 instinct which drives them across the waters is almost less to be 

 wondered at than this effort of memory, for it can be called by 

 no other name. 



Of all the phenomena connected with migration, one of the 



