OUE RARER BIRDS 



THE MIGRATION OF BIEDS 



Many of the birds we are about to meet, and whose habits 

 and economy it is our object to study, are either summer or 

 winter visitors to this country ; hence by way of introduction 

 I intend to devote a few of the opening pages of this volume 

 to that fascinating subject, the Migration of Birds. 



Perhaps no other habit of birds has given rise to so much 

 difference of opinion, or been enshrouded with so much need- 

 less mystery, as their annual movements from place to place. 

 Little need be said on the supposed hibernation of birds — a 

 myth that was devoutly believed in years ago by many 

 accomplished field naturalists. Swallows especially were 

 thought to enter a long trance in autumn, burying themselves 

 in mud at the bottom of rivers and ponds or in holes of 

 buildino's and caves, wakino- into life a^ijain with the return 

 of spring. We know now that these birds are not ex- 

 ceptional in their movements, and regularly wing their way 

 to South Africa every autumn. If still further proof were 

 required, it may be found in the annual change of dress these 

 birds undergo. Swallows leave us in autumn in worn and 

 abraded plumage, not moulting before they migrate, as most 

 other birds do, and return in spring in all the splendour of 

 their wedding garments. Even the most casual observer of 



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