CHAPTER VIII 



THE PERILS OF MIGRATION 



THE dangers to which migratory birds are subjected 

 during their journeys are but little less than those 

 which would befall them if they remained in un- 

 suitable zones. During long oversea passages fatigue 

 and hunger weed out the weaklings, sudden storms 

 and adverse winds strike them where no land is 

 near, and they are carried often far from the goal 

 they aimed at. Predatory birds accompany them, 

 taking toll en route, and predatory man waits for 

 the tired wanderers with gun and net. Shore birds 

 may rest upon the waves ; sandpipers have been 

 seen feeding as they walked upon the drifting weed 

 of the Sargasso Sea, and steamers and other vessels 

 frequently provide a rest for weary birds ; but what 

 happens to the many which find no haven ? Woe 

 to the luckless warbler whose feathers once become 

 water-soaked ! a grave in the ocean or a burial in 

 the sand of the beach is the inevitable result/' says 

 Mr Cooke. A storm on Lake Michigan during 

 spring migration piled many birds along the shore, 

 and in the wider Gulf of Mexico many hundreds of 

 passage birds were seen to fall into the water when 



104 



