i8o THE MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS 



salt waters, extending in winter as far as South 

 Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile. The 

 little sanderling covers a similar vast area, as it 

 nests in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres, and 

 in winter is found south to Patagonia, southern 

 Africa, and Australia. These two species have a 

 greater migration range than any others known, for 

 they are found at one time or another on almost 

 every seacoast in the entire world. 



The Seasonal Flight of Ducks 



With the advent of civilization feathered game 

 invariably has decreased in abundance, yet our 

 wild ducks, because of their wariness and the nature 

 of their haunts, have remained common until to-day, 

 and as a group probably show the most easily ob- 

 served examples of the actual process of migration. 

 Small birds as migrants, appear and disappear with 

 their movements cloaked by darkness so that their 

 flight passes unseen, except under the exceptional 

 circumstances of observation of the face of the moon 

 by telescope, or as the passage of migrants in the 

 darkness is detected by their calls. Nearly all ducks 

 fly regularly by day, travelling at heights where they 

 are readily visible; and as most of us, if not hunt- 

 ers, possess traces at least of the hunting instinct, 

 these flights attract instant attention. 



