RANGE AND MIGRATIONS. 
I T must be apparent to the reader, from the foregoing, that 
certain species of shore birds pass up the Mississippi \ alley 
in Spring, but do not return by that broad highway. It will 
moreover be seen that the species that do not returnby tha 
road are abundant on the Atlantic Coast in autumn. If 
these premises hold, the conclusion is inevitable, that they go 
very far North to breed, swing over to the eastern shores, 
where they recuperate, and then proceed on their Southern 
journey. We propose, howev. r, to introduce some testi¬ 
mony in support of this hypothesis. There is, to the north¬ 
ward of the Great Lakes and to the eastward of the Rocky 
Mountain Range, a vast unexplored territory within whose 
boundaries are mountains, valleys, prairies and marshes. 
Nestling away in the quiet bosom of the mountains or sleep¬ 
ing gently in the valleys are many lakes and ponds, sourc.s 
of numerous rivers, possible highways for future commerce. 
Thither for countless ages the feathered migrants have wan¬ 
dered in search of that solitude, that entire immunity from 
dangerous contact with man, not accorded them in later 
years along our frontier. Here, too, must be found abund¬ 
ance of food suited to the wants of both old and young. 
Possibly this may have something to do with their line of 
flight. If it should be found that this region produced food 
peculiarly adapted to their tastes th°y would very Tkely take 
the shorter route via Mississippi Valley to reach it rather than 
lavel away round the Atlantic Coast, Labrador, etc., and 
moreover it is well known that most of the shore birds r * 
sort to fresh water lakes and marshes to rear their young. 
That they do populate this whole region reaching the Arc¬ 
tic shores in large numbers is attested by the explorers who 
have visited that inhospitable country. For many yc ars nat 
.uralists have recognized these birds as belonging to Arctic 
fauna. In July, 1771, near the mouth of Coppermine River 
