THE OSPREY. 



47 



bird migration the old migrate with the 

 young", but from Gatke's observations it 

 seems positively ascertained that as a 

 g"eneral rule the young* mig^rate several 

 weeks in advance of the old birds. He 

 states that the young- are readily distin- 

 g-uishable from the old birds b3' their dif- 

 ferent plumagfe, and that when the young- 

 leave, the old birds are g-enerally moult- 

 ing- and unable to do so. To ascertain 

 positively that the young- are not led by 

 the old would appear to be a difficult 

 matter, but fifty years of observation is a 

 long- period and the results oug-ht to g-o 

 for something-. On the return journey- 

 in the spring- the old males mig-rate first, 

 leaving- the females and the voung- to fol- 

 low, as we have ourselves learned. Var- 

 ious theories have prevailed to explain 

 the marvelous faculty possessed by mi- 

 g-rating- birds in finding- their way over 

 land and sea; but so far nothing has been 

 made sure, and the suppositions have the 

 field. 



Will it ever be otherwise? Do we not 

 here encounter one of the divine mysteries 

 of nature? I may know the anatomy of 

 a bird, the food it eats, and the number 

 of feathers that clothe its body; I ma}' 

 know its song-, the rapidity of its flig-ht, 



and many another thing- of its outward 

 life, but here I must stop; I am not per- 

 mitted to enter the holy of holies — that 

 inner conciousness that controls the 

 whole. 



It has been a g^eneral belief among^ or- 

 nitholog-ists that birds arrive at the end 

 of their journey in an emaciated condition, 

 but this belief is contrary to Herr Gatke's 

 experience — also that of the Helig-oland 

 fowlers. He affirms that whether near 

 the beg-inning- or end of their journe}', the 

 birds when taken are found to be vig-or- 

 ous and well nourished, and, curiously 

 enoug-h, are found invariably to have 

 empty stomachs. He thinks that this is 

 proof that birds prepare for their migTa- 

 tory feats by an abstainance from food. 

 These most interesting- observations upon 

 which I have scarcely touched, may bring 

 us no nearer the solution of the why and 

 the wherefore of mig-ration, but they at 

 least show us how easy it is to be wrong-, 

 and to g-ive a few superficial observations 

 g-reater prominence than they deserve. 

 This it is that makes the study of orni- 

 tholog-y a delig-htful recreation, and from 

 a passing- interest one gets imbued with 

 the spirit of research, seldom abandoned 

 in a life time. 



Rambles Around Quiver Lake, 



BY P. M. SILLOWAY, KOODHOUSE, ILL. 



(Second paper— Along Mud Lake Slough ) 



In my opinion there is no portion of the 

 Quiver Lake reg-ion more attractive, 

 both in its woodland picturesque beauty 

 and its abundance of birdlife, than the 

 locality immediately centering about the 

 north end or "head" of the lake. In the 

 ang-le between Quiver and the river lie 

 Dog-fish, Grass, Duck, and Mud Lakes, 

 and the sloug-hs or outlets leading- from 

 them add their currents to the inflow of 

 Quiver Creek, and thus a reg-ular channel 

 is formed from the head of the lake to its 

 influx into the river. My first visit to 

 the head of Quiver, or Mud Lake Sloug-h, 

 was on a beautiful Saturday morning-, 

 the 18th of May, 1895, when a fellow- 

 collector and myself, accompanied by a 

 g-enial friend, who presided over the cul- 

 inary department of the cabinboat in 



which we made our headquarters, started 

 on a voyag-e to Grass Lake in search of 

 Duck's nests, which the last mentioned 

 member of the expedition declared were 

 to be found there in numbers (subse- 

 quently found to be a mistake). Quiver 

 Lake is something- more than two miles 

 long-, thoug-h I cannot be accurate about 

 distances there, and for the first third of 

 our vo3'ag-e we rowed over water free 

 from moss and beautifully clear as g-reen- 

 tinted g-lass. Beyond the clear water, 

 however, from the mouth of Dog-fish 

 Lake, there was a heavy g-rowth of moss 

 and lilies, which g-reatly impeded our 

 prog-ress, and soon we found ourselves 

 compelled to follow the tortuous wind- 

 ing-s of the channel formed by the current 

 from Quiver Creek and the upper lakes. 



