Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/212



How often whilst gazing on the nest of a bird, admiring the beauty of its structure, or wondering at the skill displayed in securing it from danger, have I been led to question myself why there is often so much difference in the conformation and materials of those of even the same species, in different latitudes or localities. How often, too, while admir- ing the bird itself, have I in vain tried to discover the causes why more mental and corporeal hardihood should have been granted to certain indi- viduals, which although small and seemingly more delicate than others, are wont to force their way, and that at an early season, quite across the whole extent of the United States ; while others, of greater bodily magni- tude, equal powers of flight, and similar courage, never reach so far, in fact merely enter our country or confine their journeys to half the dis- tance to which the others reach. The diminutive Ruby-throated Hum- ming-bird, the delicate Winter Wren, and many warblers^ all birds of comparatively short flight, are seen to push their way from the West India Islands, or the table-lands of Mexico and South America, farther north than our boundary-lines, before they reach certain localities, which we cannot look upon but as being the favourite places of rendezvous allotted to these beings for their summer abode.

How wonderful have I thought it that all birds which migrate are not equally privileged. Why do not the Turkey Buzzard, the Fork-tailed Hawk, and many others possessing remarkable ease and power of flight, visit the same places ? There the Vulture would find its favourite carrion during the heat of the dog-days, and the Hawk abundance of insects. Why do not the Pigeons found in the south ever visit the State of Maine, when one species, the Columba migratoria, is permitted to ramble over the whole extent of our vast country? And why does the small Pewee go so far north, accompanied by the Tyrant Flycatcher; while the Titirit, larger and stronger than either, remains in the Floridas and Carolinas, and the Great Crested Flycatcher, the bird now before you, seldom travels farther east than Connecticut ? Reader, can you assist me ?