26 USEFUL BIRDS. 
dous changes, — were wrought here in a few years by the 
tide of immigration from the eastern world. 
In many communities only a score of years elapsed be- 
tween the subjugation of the unbroken wilderness and the 
building of a farming town or growing city. In Massachu- 
setts the settlers cut down the forest ; killed off most of the 
larger mammals and birds ; imported and bred horses, cattle, 
and poultry; cleared and planted much of the arable land ; 
introduced many new plants; and rapidly changed the ap- 
pearance of the country from that of a wilderness to that of 
an agricultural colony. Thirty years after the landing of 
the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, eastern Massachusetts was 
well colonized; with several growing seaport towns; with 
prosperous farms, fertile fields and green pastures; with 
flocks and herds grazing on many a hill, where the wild 
Indian and the red deer formerly roamed. 
All these changes, taking place so rapidly, produced great 
disturbances in the economy of nature. As the wolf, lynx, 
puma, and bear were killed or driven away, the smaller 
animals on which they had formerly preyed increased in 
numbers and attacked the crops. Crows, Blackbirds, and 
many insects, finding jn the grain crops new sources of food 
supply, swarmed upon them and multiplied exceedingly. 
Birds and insects attacked the cultivated fruit. Thousands 
of acres of cleared meadow land were producing crops of 
grass. Given this increased food supply, locusts and other 
grass-eating insects increased in numbers. The settlers, 
meantime, were destroying the Heath Hen, Quail, Plover, 
Blackbirds, Hawks, and Crows, the natural enemies of the 
locusts. As time went on, many new plants were introduced 
from Europe, and in some cases insect pests unwittingly 
were brought with them. The two succeeding centuries 
brought about a tremendous immigration from Europe. As 
settlement extended into the western States, great fields of 
wheat and other grains were established, covering the plains 
in some instances as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of 
thousands of acres were planted to orchards and vineyards; 
great areas near the cities were devoted to garden vegetables ; 
north and south, corn, wheat, and cotton clothed the land. 
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