MORTALITY AMONG MIGRANT BIRDS 131 



of a rich yellow. They reminded me in turn of meteors, 

 gigantic moths, swallows with the sunlight streaming 

 through their wings. I could not watch them for any 

 length of time without becoming dizzy and bewildered. 

 When the wind blew strongly they circled around to 

 leeward, breasting it in a dense throng, which drifted 

 backward and forward, up and down, like a swarm of 

 gnats dancing in the sunshine. Dozens were continually 

 leaving this throng and skimming toward the lantern. 

 As they approached they invariably soared upward, and 

 those which started on a level with the platform usually 

 passed above the roof. Others sheared off at the last 

 moment, and shot by with arrow-like swiftness, while 

 more rarely one would stop abruptly and, poising a few 

 feet from the glass, inspect the lighted space within. 

 Often for a minute or more not a bird would strike. 

 Then, as if seized by a panic, they would come against 

 the glass so rapidly, and in such numbers, that the sound 

 of their blows resembled the pattering of hail. ... At 

 times it fairly rained birds, and the platform, wet and 

 shining, was strewn with the dead and dying. 



Birds are attracted to lights in greatest numbers 

 on dark nights when the air contains quantities of 

 moisture, not necessarily in the form of fog or mist, 

 but often when it is suspended invisibly. The great 

 destruction at lighthouses and lightships has aroused 

 considerable interest, especially since it was found 

 that many birds were not actually injured but 

 merely fluttered down to fall into the water beneath. 



