MIGRATION 



of BIRDS 



When the birds that have nested in our dooryards and those that 

 have frequented the neighboring woods, hills, and marshes leave us in 

 the fall, the question naturally comes to mind: Where do they go? 

 This, hov^^ever, is only one small part of the question as we also wonder : 

 Will the same ones return next spring to their former haunts ? What 

 dangers will they face on their round-trip flight and while in their 

 winter homes? These and other questions on the migratory habits 

 of most species of Northern Hemisphere birds puzzle all who are 

 interested in them, whether it be the farmer who profits by their 

 tireless warfare against the weed and insect pests of his crops, the bird 

 student who enjoys an abundance and variety of feathered inhabitants 

 about him, or the hunter who wants a continuation from year to year 

 of the sport of wildfowling. Lack of information on the subject may 

 mean the loss of an important resource by unconsciously letting it slip 

 from us, as ignorance might be responsible for inadequate legal pro- 

 tection for such species as might urgently need it. More general 

 knowledge on the subject will aid in the perpetuation of the various 

 migrants, the seasonal habitats of some of which are in grave danger 

 from man's utilization, sometimes unwisely, of the marsh, water and 

 other areas that were formerly homes for birds. 



The migrations of birds were probably among the first natural phe- 

 nomena to attract the attention and intrigue the imagination of man. 

 Recorded observations on the subject date back nearly 3,000 years, to 



