( viii ) 
Florida."* This circumstance leads to a suspicion, tliat the principal cause (I wiU not, out of complaisance to any one, 
caU it a necessary instinct) which leads or impels these birds to migrate to the northward, is that they may make 
choice of a proper chmate, abounding in their favourite food, to perform their amours, to build their nests, and to 
rear their young. Much Hght might be thrown upon this curious subject, if natural history were cultivated in the 
United-States, with a portion of that innocent and useful zeal with which it is cultivated in Europe : with only a small 
portion of that ardent zeal which so strongly characterizes the Americans in their pursuit of gain. But, as yet. 
little attention is paid to the study of nature in the United-States. In our coUeges, it is not taught as an indispen- 
sable branch of polite or useful knowledge, but is obliged to yield its laurels to languages which are withered or dead, 
and to studies which are useless or ignoble.f 
§. XIII. 
It has been supposed, that many of the birds which I have enumerated, pass, on their return to the south, during 
the autumnal months, through the countries which are situated to the west of the great ranges of our mountains 
That this is sometimes the case, I do not doubt: but it is not the general order of the migration of our birds. My 
opinion, indeed, is opposed by the authority of some very respectable naturalists, whose sentiments deserve to be 
mentioned in this place. " The birds (says the late Mr. George Edwards), which pass through the country nortli- 
ward in the spring, being never observed to return the same way, Mr. Bartram supposes that they go to the southward 
in autumn by some other passage beyond their inland mountains." X This notion is likewise adopted by Mr. Pennant 
Speaking of the Motacilla vermivora, or Worm-eater, this able zoologist says, "It does not appear in Pemmjlranio 
till July, in its passage northward. Does not return the same way ; but is supposed to go beyond the mountabs 
which lie to the west. This seems to be the case with all the transient vernal visitants of Pennsylvania:' § In tbt 
above quotation, Mr. Edwards says, the birds are "never" observed to return the same way that they went, 
This is, certainly, a mistake. Our swallows, which are migratory birds, as I think I have rendered very probabk 
in the Appendix, |1 are generally seen on their return southward, in the autumn, far to the east of the first ranges ol 
our mountains. But independently of the swallows, the same may be said of many other species of birds. Indeed 
I believe it may confidently be said, that most of the passenger-birds, which pass by us, in the spring, return, in th. 
autumn, southward, the same way they went. This observation certainly applies to the Anas canadensis {^\'M 
Goose), the Columba migratoria (Wild-Pigeon), the FringiUa tristis (YeUow-Bird), Motacillia Siahs (Blue-Bird) 
Loxia Curvirostra (Crossbill), Fringilla (Hemp-Bird), and at least fifty others, which are constantly observec 
on their migrations southward, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. These autumnal flocks sometimes consis 
of many thousands of individuals together ; and it has been observed, that birds of different species sometimes mi 
grate in the same bodies. 
§. XIV. 
It must not be imagined, that the birds which I have enumerated arrive uniformly, every year, at the time 
which are prefixed to their names, in the first column. I have long been persuaded, that the uniformity of the ar 
rival of the migratory birds, in any given country, is not so great as many naturahsts have imagined. The atten 
tion which I have paid to this curious subject in Pennsylvania, has convinced me, that my suspicion was well foundec 
The migration of birds is not a "determinate instinct,1[" but an act of vohtion, or wiU. Hence, the seasons an^ 
• Travels, &c. Page 187. 
t I ever have been a friend to the study of the two ancient languages, the Greek and the Latin, which are taught in our schools. They are absolute; 
npcessary to the complete attainment of some sciences, such as natural history (including botany), and medicine; and I think with Erasmus, that 
physician should be ashamed not to know them. I3ut too much time is dissipated in the acquisition of these languages. If I do not greatly mistak 
this truth bc.gins to be acknowledged among us. Video meliora. If only one-sixth part of the time which is consumed in acquiring the Greek ai 
Latin languages (j.articularly th.; form.;r), were appropriated to the study of natural history, in less than twenty years, the animal, the vegetable, 
the mineral productions of the United-Htates, would be pretty well investigated. But what, in the cultivation of a science so extensive, and so diffl 
can be (ixi.ccted from the laljours of two or three individuals, unaided by the public, and tramelled by professional engagements and pursuits? 
I Gleanings of Natural Uistory, Part II. P. Z02. ^ Arctic Zoology. Vol. II. P. 100, loi. |1 See Page 16. % Dr. Adam Ferguson. 
