330 HOMING WITH THE BIRDS 



tion among blackbirds to assume the wedge-shaped 

 Formation, but they collect in larger numbers. All 

 the water fowl I ever have watched in migration 

 across the open water of my lake flew in the wedge, 

 one bird apparently leading at the point. If it is 

 true thai before I hey take wing the birds hold a 

 primary and elect one of the oldest and wisest to 

 lead them in flight, then it must also be true that 

 they elect dozens of subleaders to take his place in 

 ease of accident; for on my lake I frequently see 

 hunters shooting down the foremost birds of a 

 low-flying wedge, in which case the formation 

 scatters but always re-forms, another bird taking 

 the lead. I also have grave doubts concerning 

 the theory of the oldest and wisest. When my 

 birds migrate, after the old ones have performed the 

 strenuous work of nest building, feeding their 

 young, and have gone through the enervating proc- 

 ess <>f moulting, I very seriously doubt that they 

 are stronger and better prepared for the long flight 

 than some of their young. 



The greatest authority on the migration of birds, 

 the one man having the widest opportunity, and 

 who spent fifty years of uninterrupted watchful- 

 ness of bird migration, was Ilerr (iiitke of Heligo- 

 land. I lis observations covered larks, starlings, 

 wrens, and many other smaller birds, as well as 

 plover, sandpipers, owls, and larger water birds. 

 He states in his records thai the young and the old 

 migrate separately, generally by different routes, 



