386 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



population. Its background is the domestic landscape — village, hedge- 

 row and park; no wide tracts of uncultivated land or of wilderness to 

 lure birds away. In America vast numbers of birds still sequester 

 themselves in wilderness solitudes undisturbed by men, and even in the 

 settled districts many of the more shy species find congenial haunts 

 in the depths of undergrowth some distance from habitations. On 

 the other hand, there are some like the grackle or crow blackbird, the 

 robin and the bluebird, the catbird, the chipping and song sparrows 

 that seem to prefer to dwell about the homes of men. Indeed, it is 

 quite true, that many of our native birds have found a certain advan- 

 tage in this affiliation with the human population, at least so far as the 

 food problem is concerned. The blackbird flocks that swarm over 

 the corn lands in early autumn have certainly not diminished, rather 

 have they increased, since the first days of settlement. The bobolink 

 has probably widened its range with the increased area of cultivation. 

 The crow, though a wary tenant of the farm lands, nesting and roosting 

 away from the haunts of men, is still a prominent figure in the land- 

 scape of agricultural districts. Many sparrows are gleaners in the 

 shorn fields and pastures, and about the barns and door-yards. 

 Orchards have become a favorite resort, affording an abundance of 

 food for numerous bird families. Great numbers of migrating birds, 

 especially wood warblers, follow the bloom of the fruit trees from 

 south to north in the spring to feed on the insects that infest the 

 buds and blossoms. Not so many years ago, before the larger cities 

 had entirely outgrown their earlier village character, the Baltimore 

 oriole wove its hanging nest here and there in some shade tree along 

 a busy street or in some city square or old town garden. Its rich 

 warble and brilliant color were truly a refreshing sound and sight in 

 the June days, a touch of the woodland life now rarely if ever to be 

 met with in the great overgrown centers of trade. 



In England one is impressed with the abundance of individuals 

 among birds which have become dependent upon man and his work. 

 In America a process of adjustment is going on wbich will unquestion- 

 ably bring about a similar status in the bird population as more and 

 more of the wild land is cleared and cultivated. In the human history 

 of progress and discovery many delicately adjusted points in the balance 

 of nature are disturbed, entailing often complex and widespread 

 changes in the life and habits of the native fauna. Such changes as we 

 have pictured are small fragments in the history of a country, but 

 they possess great interest as showing how remotely and by what strange 

 means causes and effects operate. Man appears in a new land, clears 

 its face of timber and builds his home. By and by birds from the 

 distant prairie lands find their way into his fields. The swift forsakes 

 the hollow tree to build in the settler's chimney, and the swallow leaves 

 the overhanging tree-trunk and rocky ledge for the shelter of the eaves 



