NATURE IN ACADIE. 39 



The sight of these little fugitives from the rigours 

 of a Polar winter provides mental pabulum for many 

 strange reflections, and so one finds oneself thinking why 

 these small frail creatures — to whom most would deny 

 the possession of reason^why and how they should 

 travel southward so unerringly to these less ice-bound 

 climes ; and why — still less explicable — they should 

 return as unerringly to those same Polar regions when 

 the fitful Arctic summer sets in — nay, even before, for 

 they depart from their temporary refuge long before the 

 advance of genial spring. 



Years ago such questions as these were left unargued, 

 and were, indeed, unanswerable, but now we have learnt 

 somewhat of Nature's secrets, and can reason back to 

 the time when a warmer climate reigned over the far 

 north, and the birds were stationary, as are those of 

 more temperate latitudes at the present day. Then, as 

 the great winter, or ice age, set in, one can picture the 

 whole animal life of this great area being forced gradu- 

 ally southward with the extension of the cold region, 

 while in the brief spaces of the Arctic summer this 

 southward movement would naturally cease for a time ; 

 the frost-bound trees would perhaps struggle forth into 

 leaf again ; the dormant insects would again appear ; 

 while the birds, by reason of their powers of flight, 

 would even venture to return somewhat towards their 

 former breeding haunts. This may be only hypothesis, 

 but it seems to clear away much of the shadow of the 

 inexplicable surrounding the question of migration. 



A few northern shrikes or " butcher-birds " came 

 under my notice during the month of February, and one 

 day a bird of this species was actually to be seen in one 

 of the principal streets of Halifax, to the no small 

 terror of the over-confident alien sparrows, one at least 

 of which it pursued and captured. This bird is closely 

 allied to the grey shrikes of Europe, and possesses 

 similar habits, including that of impaling its prey upon 

 thorns. 



There were also in the vicinity of the town at this 

 season a somewhat unusual number of " saw-whet " or 



