Birds of Massachusetts. 263 
the egg like common birds; but in places more ex- 
posed, keep an upright position, with their faces 
toward the wind. In these places also they lay but 
one egg, while in places more sheltered, there are 
often two. The eggs are considered a great luxury ; 
the flesh is said to be good to the taste, geomet dark 
and uninviting to the eye. 
In the foregoing list of our water birds, I have 
given the names, with a short account of the habits 
of all which reside with us or visit us, so far as I 
have been able to ascertain them. Some, which 
occasionally visit us, may be omitted ; and if not, 
succeeding observations will doubtless make a differ- 
ence in the list ; since the accident of a winter un- 
usually severe, may bring some arctic birds farther 
south than they have yet been seen ; and a similar - 
cause may make us acquainted with some resi- 
dents of the south, which have not yet entered 
our bounds. The range of breeding and migra- 
tion is thus at times contracted or extended ; but 
the visits of a stranger, few and far between, are of 
but little importance, and if our regular visitants 
and permanent residents are set down and pro- 
perly described, it is hoped that the purpose of the 
survey will be answered. 
It is more probable, on the other hand, thai some 
birds which come to us regularly now, finding what 
sort of welcome awaits them, will gradually with- 
draw; for they are by no means slow to benefit 
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