INTRODUCTION. XXXI1 
Indian hemp, flax of the silk-weed (Asclepias species), and 
other tough and fibrous substances ; but with a ready ingenuity 
he discovers that real flax and hemp, as well as thread, cotton, 
yarn, and even hanks of silk, or small strings, and horse and 
cow hair, are excellent substitutes for his original domestic ma- 
terials; and in order to be convenient to these accidental 
resources, — a matter of some importance in so tedious a labor, 
— he has left the wild woods of his ancestry, and conscious of 
the security of his lofty and nearly inaccessible mansion, has 
taken up his welcome abode in the precincts of our habitations. 
The same motives of convenience and comfort have had their 
apparent influence on many more of our almost domestic 
feathered tribes; the Bluebirds, Wrens, and Swallows, original 
inhabitants of the woods, are now no less familiar than our 
Pigeons. The Catbird often leaves his native solitary thickets 
for the convenience and refuge of the garden, and watch- 
ing, occasionally, the motions of the tenant, answers to his 
whistle with complacent mimicry, or in petulant anger scolds at 
his intrusion. The Common Robin, who never varies his simple 
and coarse architecture, tormented by the parasitic Cuckoo 
or the noisy Jay, who seek at times to rob him of his progeny, 
for protection has been known fearlessly to build his nest 
within a few yards of the blacksmith’s anvil, or on the stern 
timbers of an unfinished vessel, where the carpenters were still 
employed in their noisy labors. That sagacity obtains its influ- 
ence over unvarying instinct in these and many other familiar 
birds, may readily be conceived when we observe that this 
venturous association with man vanishes with the occasion 
which required it; for no sooner have the Oriole and Robin 
reared their young than their natural suspicion and shyness 
again return. 
Deserts and solitudes are avoided by most kinds of birds. 
In an extensive country of unvarying surface, or possessing but 
little variety of natural productions, and particularly where 
streams and waters are scarce, few of the feathered tribes are 
to be found. The extensive prairies of the West, and the 
gloomy and almost interminable forests of the North, as well as 
