wind. At such times they are supposed to fly at the rate of one
hundred miles an hour. When moulting, and unable to rise into the air,
it is no easy matter to follow them even with a canoe. By means of
their broad feet and strong wings, they can flutter so quickly over the
water, now and then diving, that the hunter cannot overtake them in his
boat, but is obliged to use his gun in the pursuit.

"The `hoopers' are migratory,--that is, they pass to the north every
spring, and southward again in the autumn. Why they make these annual
migrations, remains one of the mysteries of nature. Some believe they
migrate to the north, because they there find those desolate uninhabited
regions where they can bring forth their young in security. But this
explanation cannot be the true one, as there are also uninhabited
regions in the south, even under the equator, where they may be equally
free from the presence of man. Another explanation might be offered.
In hot and tropical countries most of the small lakes and swamps, where
these birds love to dwell, dry up during the summer months: hence the
necessity of a migration to colder and moister regions. But this would
only hold good of the wading and water birds; it would not account for
the migration of the many other birds of passage.

"A better explanation may be this: The north and the cold zones are the
natural habitat of most migratory birds. It is there that they bring
forth their young, and there they are at home. In tropical regions they
are only sojourners for a season, forced thither, some of them, by a
cold which they do not relish; but others, such as the water-fowl, by
the frost, which, binding up the lakes, rivers, and swamps, hinders them
from procuring their food. They are thus compelled to make an annual
migration to the open waters of the South, but as soon as the ice has
given way before the genial breath of spring, they all return rejoicing
to their favourite home in the North, when their season of love
commences.

"The `hoopers' follow this general law, and migrate to the northward
every spring. They breed upon islets in the numerous lakes that stud
the whole northern part of the American continent. Eminences in swamps
are also chosen for breeding places, and the ends of promontories that
jut out into the water. The spot selected is always such that the swan,
when seated upon her nest, can have a view of the surrounding country,
and detect any enemy