ORNITHOLOGY 



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DUCKS MIGRATING. 



ment. . Flocks of robins, sparrows and 

 finches may also be encountered along the 

 hedges and roadsides as they are gather- 

 ing for the flight, and many of the warb- 

 lers on their leisurely journey southward 

 spend days with us "en route" to rest and 

 feed. Especially noticeable in the north- 

 eastern and some of the central states is 

 this fall flight of blackpoU warblers. 

 These birds breed northward to Alaska ; 

 the flocks concentrating as they move 

 southward, and all pass through Florida, 

 The Bahamas and West Indies to the 

 northern part of South America, where 

 they spend the winter five thousand miles 

 from their svunmer home. 



In August we see immense numbers 

 of swallows flocking about the ponds and 

 marshes as they prepare to leave the 

 locality; then suddenly in a day they are 

 gone, and we cannot find one by search- 

 ing. Some ten years ago, in north-east- 

 ern Maine, I had the opportunity of wit- 

 nessing for over two hours a continuous 

 flight of swallows and martins, of which 

 I identified several species among the 

 low-flying migrants. Thousands upon 

 thousands of these birds passed steadily 

 by to the southward as we watched them 

 from a veranda, and the flight had not 

 ceased when we left, although it had 

 somewhat diminished. This was in the 

 latter part of August late one afternoon, 

 and the following day we saw no signs 

 of anv of these birds. 



The night migrants have sometimes been 

 studied by the aid of powerful search 

 lights, or by focussing a telescope on the 

 face of the full moon, and watching the 

 birds as they move across its illuminated 

 path. IMuch of interest may also be 

 learned by spending the night upon some 

 hill-top in a favorable location, noting 

 the sounds and times of passing of the 

 difi:'erent birds. 



The definite routes of migration now 

 known to be followed by most of our 

 birds may be studied to advantage, al- 

 though many }-et remain a mystery and 

 there is ample opportunity for research 

 along- these lines. Perhaps some day we 

 will know what becomes of the chimney 

 swifts as they disappear ofif the coast of 

 the Gulf of Mexico after slowh- gath- 

 ering from their breeding haunts and 

 migrating southward to this point. It is 

 only known now that they absolutely van- 

 ish here in the fall, making their appear- 

 ance again in the early spring from their 

 unknown winter home. 



Six species of our shore birds breed- 

 ing north of the arctic circle and finding 

 their way over an eight thousand mile 

 route to Patagonia ; the golden plover 

 flying twenty-four hundred miles across 

 the water, from Nova Scotia to South 

 America, without food or rest, and the 

 ering eleven thousand miles each way to 

 arctic tern — champion of them all — cov- 

 visit its winter home, are some of the 



