CHAPTER I 

 Introduction 



THE regular movements of birds during their 

 migratory flights between their summer and 

 winter homes are among the striking natural phe- 

 nomena of the temperate regions of the earth that 

 attract almost universal attention. Lines of geese, 

 ducks, or cranes crossing the sky stir the heart of 

 civilized and savage man alike, and in all quarters 

 are greeted as indicators of changing season. The 

 return of robins to our lawns, almost as soon as the 

 ground is bare in spring, or the cheerful warblings of 

 the bluebird from roadside fences, are events re- 

 corded in speech and in the press, and are greeted 

 with pleasure as the vanguard of advance against 

 winter. The country dweller in Europe, Africa, 

 Argentina, or Australia welcomes a swallow as the 

 certain harbinger of warmer weather, and rejoices 

 accordingly. Movements among nomadic peoples, 

 migratory themselves in one sense of the word, have 

 been controlled by the flights of birds. Savage 

 tribes have named months for birds that regularly 

 appear during their course; and migratory flights of 



