THE MIGRATIONS OF OTHER BIRDS 195 



The Migrations of Some Other Birds 



Common birds that do not seem particularly- 

 strong in flight in many instances perform wonder- 

 ful migrations of which we are only now gaining a 

 true conception. Flight seems so much a matter of 

 custom and habit, that even small birds are able to 

 cover great distances without apparent over-fatigue 

 so long as they can obtain proper food. 



The chimney swift, found in summer through- 

 out the eastern half of North America from Mani- 

 toba and Quebec south to the Gulf coast, has long 

 been an anomaly, since, though abundant in num- 

 bers, its winter home has never been definitely 

 located. In autumn, toward the close of their stay, 

 the birds congregate at nightfall in large flocks, 

 which roost in certain selected chimneys, or occa- 

 sionally resort to some hollow tree after the fashion 

 of their ancestors. Such resorts are visited year 

 after year, and I recall particularly one large hollow 

 tree that I knew in boyhood, to which these birds 

 came in tremendous numbers for a few nights each 

 autumn. Migrant swifts pass south to the Gulf 

 coast, where for a time they are extremely numerous, 

 and then disappear, to return at the close of March, 

 and to work slowly northward during April to their 

 breeding grounds. For many years they were 

 wholly unknown south of our limits, but recently a 



