Chapter XII 



BIRDS ON THE WING 



THE migration of birds, northward and 

 back again, spring and autumn, 

 across countries of the temperate 

 zone, is one of the deep and fascinating 

 mysteries of nature. 



First of all, the fact that many species 

 make these semi-annual voyages of theirs 

 through the upper air entirely during the 

 silent watches of the night, sometimes 

 traveling perhaps as much as five hundred 

 miles through the darkness in one flight 

 from sundown to sunrise, is in itself both 

 surprising and wonderful. 



They are probably passing by the tens 

 of thousands as I write (October tenth) 

 and have been since the middle or latter 

 part of September, every time I have given 

 myself to sleep; and, save for an occa- 

 sional '^ peep-peep-peep," heard faintly from 

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