Foreword 



Ihe migration of birds has doubtless fascinated the mind of man 

 throughout history. Certain iy the artists of the Altemira Caves must already 

 have been interested, since their drawings include migratory species. Prac- 

 tically all over the world some favorite winter absentee is welcomed back 

 as the harbinger of spring upon its annual return. To Albert Hochbaum, 

 author of this book, living on his Manitoba marsh, it is the Canada Goose 

 and the Whistling Swan that constitute the first tangible guarantee that 

 spring is on its way back, no matter what the frozen lake may be doing at 

 the time or how belated the weather prospects. Seemingly the birds are as 

 sure of themselves — taking their performance year in and year out — as the 

 devisers of our own calendar. And therein lies a patent mystery, since birds 

 are not equipped with sextants and compasses, mathematical tables or the 

 gift of speech. How do they come to be so wise? 



The various aspects of this problem have been a matter of observation 

 for centuries and of scientific research for decades. In more recent years 

 some of the refinements of the experimental method have been applied to 

 certain of its phases, such as the physiological timing mechanisms and 

 reproductive rhythms of migrants or the navigational equipment of homing 

 pigeons. Experiments, however, have to be based on previously acquired 

 knowledge derived from observations, and the days of observation are not 

 yet by any means over. Field records remain as important as they have 

 ever been. 



When Albert Hochbaum published his first book, The Canvasback on a 

 Prairie Marsh, in 1944, he won for himself an enviable reputation as ob- 

 server, recorder, and artist from which it is safe to predict that his present 

 volume will detract nothing. It has been a more difficult book to write, 

 since it includes a review of much of the literature and questions some of 

 the theories currently held. With his views one may, of course, agree or 

 disagree as one thinks fit, but much of what he has to say is new and deals 



