BIRD NEWS 



apt to look upon it as a seething cur- 

 rent, and we pity the poor birds that 

 are carried about by it. The substi- 

 tution of the word air for wind in all 

 matters relating to the flight and mi- 

 gration of birds would prevent a 

 great deal of misunderstanding. There 

 can be no doubt that if a bird can- 

 not find shelter it will be more 

 comfortable on the wing than on 

 the ground during the progress 

 of a storm. Mr. T. A. Cow- 

 wing that on the ground during the 

 progress of a storm. Mr. T. A. Cow- 

 ard tells me that during a storm of 

 unusual violence the ducks on a 

 Cheshire mere sprang into the air, 

 heads to wind, and flew at full speed 

 in the teeth of the gale, thereby keep- 

 ing their places over the middle of the 

 mere, to the surface of which they 

 dropped as soon as the sudden storm 

 was over. Their reason for this 

 manoeuvre was, obviously, to be out 

 of the danger of being between two 

 conflicting elements, the stationary 

 water and the moving air. In the 

 air they made no progress against 

 the wind, but had they flown with 

 it, a few minutes would have suffi- 

 ced to place many miles between 

 them and the water they were so 

 loth to leave. This, 1 think, is the 

 explanation of the conduct of the 

 Gulls mentioned by Mr. Clarke. The 

 bird, then, can fly about about in 

 any direction in this wind, but it 

 must be remembered that the whole 

 body of air is moving in some de- 

 finite direction which may or may 

 not coincide with that in which the 

 bird happens to be flying. If the 

 wind blows from east to west at 50 

 miles an hour at an altitude of 5,- 

 000 feet — and migration is carried 

 on at far greater heights than this — 

 and the bird is capable of flying 

 through the air at 50 miles an hour, 

 its net velocity, between points on 

 the earth's surface, if it flies from 

 east to west, would be 100 miles an 



hour; on a contrary direction with 

 a head-wind it would have made no 

 progress at all like the ducks over 

 the mere. If merely flying lazily 

 round in a fifty-foot circle it would 

 have traveled in one hour 5 miles 

 which is the velocity of the medium 

 supporting it. In a report submit- 

 ted to the British Association, under 

 the heading of winds, occurs the 

 statement that "the importance at- 

 tached to winds in connection with 

 bird migration, has hitherto been 

 much overestimated by popular wri- 

 ters, and their influence, such as it 

 is, misunderstood. The conclusions 

 to be drawn from a careful study of 

 the subject are (1) that the direc- 

 tion of the wind has no influence 

 whatever as an incentive to migra- 

 tion; but that (2) its force is cer- 

 tainly an important factor, inasmuch 

 as it may make migration an im- 

 possibility, arrest, to a greater or 

 lesser degree its progress, or even 

 blow birds out of their courses. It 

 is, however, a fact that particular 

 winds almost invariably prevail dur- 

 ing the great autumnal movements, 

 and these have hitherto been con- 

 sidered by some as the direct incen- 

 tives to such migrations. Such is 

 not the case, and it may at once be 

 stated that these supposed favora- 

 ble breezes are simply another di- 

 rect result of the pressure distribu- 

 tion favorable to the movements." 



This last statement detracts very 

 considerably from the value of those 

 parts of the Report that treat of 

 meteorological conditions. Stubbs 

 says, and we agree with his con- 

 clusions: "The breezes are not in 

 this instance the result of the press- 

 sure distribution but the very con- 

 verse. Winds do not; in this part 

 of Europe, move in straight lines. 

 They come to us in a curved line 

 from the Equator over the Atlantic, 

 in a series of huge eddies or cylones 

 laden with a mass of water vapor, 



