I30 THE MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS 



A.M. . . . This bird often came close up to the light, but 

 checked itself by spreading its tail; and it also frequently 

 flew to windward, and then dashed back over the lantern 

 at a tremendous pace. It paid no attention to the few 

 birds which were sometimes present during its pro- 

 longed visit.^ 



Mr. William Brewster, in an article on bird migra- 

 tion published by the Nuttall Ornithological Club,^ 

 has given a graphic account of observation at a light- 

 house on Point Lepreaux in the Bay of Fundy, in 

 August and September, 1885. Many birds struck 

 the light during the first week in September, when 

 wood warblers, red-eyed vireos, and gray-cheeked 

 thrushes were in migration. Mr. Brewster describes 

 his observations on the night of September 4 in the 

 following words : 



Above, the inky black sky; on all sides, dense wreaths 

 of fog scudding swiftly past and completely enveloping 

 the sea which moaned dismally at the base of the cliffs; 

 about the top of the tower, a belt of light projected some 

 thirty yards into the mist by the powerful reflectors; and 

 in this belt swarms of birds, circling, floating, soaring, 

 now advancing, next retreating, but never quite able 

 .... to throw off the spell of the fatal lantern. Their 

 rapidly vibrating wings made a haze about their forms 

 which in the strong light looked semitransparent. At a 

 distance all appeared of a pale, silvery gray color, nearer, 



' Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration (1912), li, 22, 23. 

 2 Mem. Nuttall Ornith. Club, No. i, 1886, pp. 7-8. 



