Land Birds at Sea, 



BY A. W. ANTHONY. 



NE some times 

 meets with old 

 friends in unex- 

 pected places and 

 meeting- with many 

 of our common land 

 V)irds far out at sea, 

 may at first seem due to 

 accident, but those 

 who "g-o down to the 

 sea in ships" soon learn 

 to reg-ard the presence of 

 mig-rating- land birds far 

 from land as of reg-ular 

 occurrence, thoug-h they of 

 course do not occur in large num- 

 bers unless driyen out to sea by storms. 



In cruising^ along- the Pacific coast I 

 have often met with mig-rating- land birds 

 far from shore, and during- calm, clear 

 weather, which would indicate that they 

 took that route from choice, rather than 

 accident or force. 



At times I have seen such wanderers, 

 when suddenly overtaken bj a fog-, com- 

 pletely lose their sense of direction and 

 become hopelessly lost, as were two Rufus 

 Humming-birds that I met with the past 

 summer off the coast of Lower California. 

 Thej came out of the thick fog- from the 

 Kast, and for several minutes made inef- 

 fectual attempts to find a resting- place on 



the spars and rig-g-ing- of the schooner. 

 Several times they lit in the shrouds, but 

 were evidently afraid of the flapping- 

 sails, and at last they disappeared in the 

 g-ray mist to the West, their heavy flig-ht 

 indicating- that thej^ were so near exhausted 

 that they would not g-o far. 



Strang-e as it may seem Humming-birds 

 are among- the most common of the land 

 species seen at sea, off our South-western 

 coast, and I have often met with them 

 far from land, their decidedly business- 

 like air indicating- that they knew where 

 they were g-oing- and what they were 

 g-oing- to do when they g-ot there. 



On two or three occasions Rock Wrens 

 have boarded vessels on which I have 

 traveled, appearing suddenly on deck, 

 and usually spending- several hours dodg-- 

 ing- about, making- short flig-hts fore and 

 aft, sometimes leaving- for short trips over 

 the water, returning- ag-ain as if loth to 

 venture on a long- journey. As nig-ht 

 approached they would become more 

 restless; and at last would depart either 

 parallel with the coast or g-oing- straig-ht 

 toward land. I do not think, however, 

 that I have met with a Rock Wren over 

 fifteen or twenty miles from the coast. 



Another voyager that I have several 

 times had as shipmate pro tern, is the 

 Ruby-crowned King-let. They are always 



