4 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



able region to the southward, seems to stir our 

 bird friends there to memories of happy nestin? 

 sites amid summer's flower-strewn fields and 

 parks, or shady forests far away to the north. 

 With some varieties, as the Robins, the prelim- 

 inary to the journey is a great gathering of the 

 clans, sometimes tens of thousands in a loose 

 flock scattered over miles of country. After a 

 few days of socializing, they break up into small 

 squads and, in response to the migrating instinct, 

 set out upon a journey, long or short, according 

 to the relative location of the winter haunt and 

 summer nesting ground. 



All the members of a given family move at 

 about the same time and, if the observation is 

 made south of their nesting-grounds, usually 

 pass a given point in a few days after the first 

 individual of that species appears. Then they 

 are seen no more until the return in the late sum- 

 mer or fall. I see the Fox Sparrows in goodly 

 numbers about the parks of Brooklyn during the 

 first days of April. In about two weeks they pass 

 northward and are not seen again until their 

 return journey in late fall. 



Among migrants the bolder and stronger, and 

 those that feed on the wing, fly by day, the more 

 timid by night, when they seem to feel a greater 

 sense of security from their natural enemies. 

 At intervals they stop for food and rest, when- 

 ever suitable cover is found, oftentimes even in 

 the heart of a great city. In the shrubbery of the 

 city parks and backyards during the migrations 

 of spring and fall will be found Interesting visi- 

 tors, distinguished strangers, of whose presence 



