BIRDS 115 



go astray than a few ; and the considerable power of 

 communicating which the bird has will certainly help 

 them to reach their goal more safely. 



It was, therefore, an iron necessity that implanted 

 the instinct of migration in the bird's breast. Their 

 wonderfully developed faculty must have been pur- 

 chased at the price of innumerable victims. 



It was necessity also, that compelled our ancestors 

 to migrate. They were forced to leave the primitive 

 home that had grown too small for them, and was 

 overwhelmed with other peoples. They were driven 

 into lands where the hot sun melted down their 

 northern vigour like snow, and where the dark waves 

 of southern races passed over their blond and handsome 

 features. So perished heroic races. But others 

 remained, and retain the spirit of the old vikings in 

 the life of Europe to-day. 



