180 



THE OOLOGIST. 



may adopt, and while they are hunted 

 successively from the 45th parallel to 

 the 27th where, or to the south of 

 which they winter, this migration, in- 

 cluding the first and last of the birds 

 occupies all of three months, and this 

 to cover less than twelve hundred miles 

 as the crow flies 



The Rails as a rule come with a rush, 

 and though a few stragglers or advance 

 guards appeir ia early April, or even 

 in late March some seasons, the r. sh 

 does not take place until late in April. 

 I am well satisfied that the Rails and 

 nearly if not quite all shore birds as 

 well as ducks prefer the hours of dark- 

 ness in which to make their long over- 

 land journeys On some warm April 

 morning we find the Virginia and 

 Carolina Rails abundant in the marshes 

 where there did not appear to be a 

 bird the day before From that day on 

 these two birds make a great racket in 

 getting settled in their quarters. 



The smaller shore birds make phe- 

 nomenal record as nesters when we 

 consider the time they are at the ex- 

 treme north. Many, as the Semipal- 

 mated and Least Sandpiper, Dunlin and 

 Wilson's Phalarope, do not all leave us 

 while slowly passing through to their 

 summer quarters until June first, and 

 reappear in early August about our 

 small interior lakes. Many of these 

 little sandpeeps cannot have beyond 

 ten weeks in which to take their long 

 journey to the extreme north, as is 

 claimed and rear their youDg, and more 

 remarkable s ill, moult also; and all in 

 this time. It is probable that these 

 birds moult at the north, and as their 

 plumage is generally different from the 

 spring coat it is reasonable to think 

 that thev do make the change. Still, 

 some one has advanced the idea that 

 these birds moult after reaching the 

 south, which, while it seems unlikely, is 

 almost allowable when we consider the 

 marvelous time that these shore birds 

 make, in nesting and returning to us. 



It is probable that those sandpipers 

 which pass through Michigan by May 

 tenth are the ones which nest first and 

 return to us first, while those which 

 loiter in lhe spring flight are the birds 

 that come to us after September fir-t. 

 Mokris Gibbs. 



If So, and If Not So; Why? 



Doubtless there is room in every walk 

 of life for the extremist. Either the 

 man of extreme ideas or the man of ex- 

 treme action. However, the man of 

 extreme ideas generally becomes de- 

 cidedly obnoxious to those about him 

 on account of his ideas, and the man of 

 extreme actions generally gets into 

 prison on account of his actions. It has 

 been rightly stated however, that every 

 extremist is of benefit to society in gen- 

 eral, by reason of the fact that their 

 example is stimulating, and that many 

 endeavor to follow the precepts which 

 they advance— and fail. In this fail- 

 ure, the matter of their own personal 

 feelings is perhaps predbminant and 

 will not allow them to follow those 

 teachings to the extreme point that the 

 enthusiastic teacher has attained. Thus 

 they occupy the position of greatest ad- 

 vantage, the middle one, or if you will, 

 "on the fence," surely however, a po- 

 sition from which both sides of the 

 matter can be viewed. 



Doubtless the author of "Bird Kill- 

 ing as a Method in Ornithology" was 

 actuated by the purest motives, but fell 

 into that ever present error of the ex- 

 tremist, "there is no other side." 



If on the other hand, the author of 

 "If Not, Why So?" in the July and 

 August numbers of the Oologist had 

 not slipped inadvertently into the same 

 pitfall, the interesting reply of Mr. 

 Brudish might have been lost. Conse- 

 quently the extremist has fulfilled a 

 purpose in both cases. 



To the true student of nature there 

 must be no more painful thoughts than 



