66 CITIZEN BIRD 



food. This food consists of insects — different kinds 

 of flies, ants, and grasshoppers, which disappear or die 

 as the air grows cold. 



*' Rap, have you ever noticed the difference between 

 the sounds in a spring night and a night in autumn ? 

 In spring the air is humming with the calls of all sorts 

 of insects, but in autumn it is silent, and even the 

 crickets have stopped chirping. 



'' So about the last of September our Kingbirds, who 

 live everywhere in the United States, gather in flocks, 

 start to find a place where insects are still stirring 

 about, and fly southward, following the sea-coast and 

 the great rivers for paths. Those from the eastern 

 part of the country stop in Central America or fly on 

 to South America, and those from the western part 

 often stop in Mexico." 



"But how can they fly so far ? " said Nat ; "it's hun- 

 dreds of miles ; and how do they find the way ? " 



" The flight of a bird is a wonderful thing, my boy. 

 He spreads those frail wings of his, and launches into 

 the air, up, up, above trees and steeples, then on and on, 

 being able to fly several hundred miles without resting. 

 Some birds, Avhen the wind aids them, cover more than 

 a hundred miles in a single hour. 



" As to the way, the eye of the bird is like a tele- 

 scope. It magnifies and sees from very far off. Fly- 

 ing through the upper air the bird watches the line of 

 coast and river, and the instinct that is placed in him 

 says, 'Follow these.' So he follows them, remember- 

 ing that by doing so he has found a place of safety in 

 other seasons. All through the spring and all through 

 the autumn birds take these mysterious flights — for so 



