192 Field and Forest Rambles. 



accidental means of transport in the case of animals or 

 plants; perhaps many species common to two widely remote 

 regions may have been originally conveyed by these agencies; 

 and no doubt, if the custom of destroying every strange bird 

 were less practised, many would remain and breed and mul- 

 tiply ; but a new comer, if at all attractive, is slain imme- 

 diately. It is not, therefore, improbable that many species, 

 now indigenous to certain countries, may have in the first 

 instance been transported by means of the winds. Again, 

 such as overstep the usual limits of their annual migrations, 

 and settle down and breed, may occasionally spend the 

 winter, and become partially indigenous to the region, and 

 through many generations return to the same district as in 

 the case of swallows. I am certain that several species of 

 warblers and other birds which come to this province in 

 summer do not breed, possibly for the reason that they are 

 so few that no mate can be procured. This, for example, 

 would seem to be the case with the following warblers, of 

 which solitary individuals may be seen every summer in 

 New Brunswick woods and forests ; doubtless, however, they 

 do breed when they have a chance. I give them for the 

 reason that I have invariably found only single birds, and 

 these most generally males, viz., the Sayornis fuscus Sialia 

 sialis, Regulus calendula, Dendroica canadensis and castanea. 

 No doubt many more might be added. In some springs the 

 scarlet tanager is common, at others not an individual is seen. 

 Of the warblers which breed here, few manage to rear more 

 than one family, and, with the exceptions already noticed, all 

 arrive within a few days of one another, and usually earlier on 

 the coast districts than inland, where likewise they tarry 

 longer in the fall, in consequence of the milder climate. I 

 think certain water birds, such as curlews and sanderlings, 

 do not invariably breed, inasmuch as flocks may be seen 

 throughout the entire year feeding together, and showing no 

 disposition to nidificate. I was very much struck by this 



