TllK CjJA)1;18T. 



•J'.li* 



Hjoast in the east ami west, and the gi eat 

 river and its tiibiitaries in llie Mississ- 

 ippi valley, lint when instances come 

 lo our notice that the minute hummers 

 have been kno a-ii to return to the same 

 tree after winti-ring in the far souti) we 

 cannot do otherwise than to marvel 

 tiiereat. 



Then we recall to mind the story thai 

 is toldof a storlv that was captured on 

 iir near its nest in (Jermauy. The cap- 

 tor put a copi)cr liand In aring date, 

 town and country on the bird's leg and 

 then the prisoner was liljerated. This 

 was a strange tiling to do i)ut it was pro- 

 ductive of a wonderful result. The 

 next spring a stork ivturnctl to the same 

 (ierman breeding place and the cai)tor 

 of the previous year caugiit the newly 

 arrived bird. The captor was much 

 surprised to note that the new comer 

 bore two copjier bands on one leg. 

 The first was the ring put on the yar 

 !)efore, and it showed that the intelli- 

 irent bird had returned to his old home, 

 rhe second band tolil where the stork 

 had been. An inscription on the ring 

 lead as follows " India sends greeting 

 to Germany." This evi<lenced the fact 

 ii?at tlie bird had lieeii suijjccted to the 

 indignity of capture in his Indian iiome, 

 ;ind there burdened wiih a second band. 

 The lirst, no doubt. i..<i Im-.h,.,! th<' put- 

 ting on of the seco 



Many wonderful c.sju-uin--. i.l liiid 

 life, bearing on migration, might be 

 mentioned but .'<p:ice forbids. 



Now as to ilic |;iimary cause of the 

 impul.se wliiih starts the birds to seek 

 a change '' cliiiiatc. No dniibt but 

 what the 



To advance my theory regarding the 

 aforementioned rea.son ami knowledge 

 as displayed by tlie migratory Inrds, I 

 will say that they know that their heat 

 and light are delivered from the suu; 

 they know that when the solar orb ap- 

 parently sinks below the wi-stern hor- 

 izon that the liglit is soon sirjjerceded 

 by darkness ami tiiat a lower temper- 

 atiu-e is to prevail; they know that when 

 the sun again appears «laylight and 

 warmth returns. Wlum after the sum- 

 mer s(dstic the great master of our sys- 

 tem seems to recede, the fact is noticed 

 by tiiem, and when the nights get too 

 cold in the autumn the migratory birds 

 move towards tiie ajjperantly retrograd- 

 ing orb until a zone of warmth builici- 

 ent to satiate there bodily needs is 

 readied. Of course, the sun all of the 

 time a|)pears to move from east to west 

 but the birds know that his path across 

 the sky lies to the south, and .so they 

 intelligently journey in tiiat direction. 

 A great deal of migrating is done by 

 night wnen the sun is absent .ind the 

 birds cannot then u.se him for tlieir 

 guide, but we will a.ssume that they 

 are aide to maintain the general direc- 

 tion ui the great autumnal migration 

 even if their shining light does divide 

 his time with them and their anli))odal 

 congeners' 



lu the spring wh(!n the sun seems to 

 be moving north, the birds of pa.ssage, 

 wiieu tiie heat becomes too great for 

 their comlort, move away from the 

 solar orb until a clime congenial to 

 them physically is reached, whici 

 resents llu'ir norihcrn or sc 



home. 



TIh' ill 



])robably govcrm^l l>.\ 



