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 in 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. 



