158 THE WORLD OF LIFE 



to prey on the larval mosquitoes ; but doubtless it is the insects and 

 small fish that are to be credited with the principal destruction in 

 this stage." 



From his personal observations Mr. Dresser says: 



" I believe that most of the waders feed their young on them 

 (mosquitoes) in the high north. In north Finland and Lapland 

 I found the small birds (warblers, swallows, etc.) feeding on 

 mosquitoes, and the snow bunting fed its young on them." 



There is, therefore, a concensus of evidence as to the pre- 

 eminent attraction afforded by these insects to almost all birds 

 which breed in the Arctic regions. 



The beautiful view on the opposite page gives us an idea 

 of the appearance of the upland tundra along the shores of 

 the Arctic Ocean. Here the southern slopes of the low hills 

 are the first to be free from snow, and afford an abundant 

 supply of last year's berries to the earliest migrants, as well 

 as a variety of animal food for aquatic birds on the adjacent 

 sea-shores in favourable situations. 



The combined physical and emotional enjoyment in this 

 birds' paradise, during the whole of the Arctic summer, for 

 so large a number of species of birds and in such enormous 

 multitudes, is probably unequalled in any other part of the 

 world; and we have the satisfaction of knowing that it is 

 perhaps the only example of Nature's short-lived but annual 

 pleasure-gardens which will not be destroyed or rendered 

 hideous by the destructiveness and greed of civilised man. 

 When much of the beauty and luxuriance of nature has been 

 banished from milder regions, these inhospitable Arctic lands 

 will long remain in their wild luxuriance of summer beauty, 

 where those who trulv love nature wdll be able to witness one 

 of the most wonderful illustrations of the mvriad forms and 

 complex ada23tations which the world of life presents to us. 



It is a significant feature of this adaptation, that of all 

 the higgler forms of life birds are the most completely pro- 

 tected from the blood-sucking and iiTitation of mosquitoes. 



