THE MUSEUM 



69 



they do not get bewildered and lly 

 against the liglit, at Popham Beach 

 on the main land the surfmen at the 

 life-saving station often kill them with 

 a walking stick or catch them with 

 their hands while walking the beach 

 with a lantern. As you approach 

 them with the lantern they will run 

 sideways with their eyes fiixed on the 

 light until you are quite on them, when 

 they will lie over on their sides in a 

 helpless condition, completely at your 

 mercy. My uncle, who belongs on 

 that station, informed me recently of 

 approaching within a few feet of a 

 Snowy Owl which was resting on the 

 beach near high tide mark. All he 

 could seem to see at first was two 

 large eyes. While moving away a 

 short distance for something to kill it 

 with it flew away. Many other inci- 

 dents I might relate but think these 

 quite enough at present in regard to 

 these peculiarities. 



That all birds do not migrate by the 

 same route in spring as fall, or vice 

 versa, is shown by the fact that dur- 

 ing the nearly five years I have lived 

 on the island, the Fox-colored Spar- 

 row has not been seen during the fall 

 — excepting this of '97, when on Nov- 

 ember 16 there was a large flight of 

 Robins and Fox-colored Sparrows — 

 but have invariably passed here in 

 spring excepting this of '97. Of the 

 Shore Lark it has been the reverse, 

 and also the Snow Flake, only a scat- 

 tering individual being seen in spring 

 if any, but passing over in large flocks 

 in fall. This fall of '97 they com- 

 menced to make their appearance the 

 1 8th of October, and from that date 

 until Nov. I2th there was not a day 

 favorable for flight that they did not 

 pass over the island by hundreds, in 

 flocks of from six to fifty individuals. 

 I have also noticed this with the 

 Snowy Owl. This bird seems to mi- 

 grate in numbers every five years. 

 The fall of '92 was noticeable as re- 

 gards this, a large number being taken 

 in this vicinity. Since that time I 

 have only learned of a few individuals 



being seen. This fall ('97) they ap- 

 peared again in numbers, three basing 

 been taken on the island and a num- 

 ber on the main land. These Owls 

 have always made their appearance in 

 this vicinity the middle of November 

 and during the lirst of December, but 

 have never appeared when returning 

 north nor have T been able to learn of 

 their being seen at other stations at 

 that time of year. 



A peculiarity I have noticed about 

 the Red-winged and Rusty Blackbird 

 is, where the Red-wiiiged nests within 

 four miles of the island I have seen it 

 but once on the island, while the Rus- 

 ty, which I think does not breed near- 

 er than one hundred miles if as near 

 as that, is a common spring and fall 

 migrant. That these lights cause im- 

 mense mortality to birds during mi- 

 gration can be shown by the fact that 

 on Seguin Station alone from fifty to 

 one hundred birds are killed many 

 nights during migration (which is a low 

 estimate) and then realize that the 

 United States alone controls some ten 

 or ele\en hundred light houses and 

 lighted beacons, and that many of 

 them are directly in line of migration, 

 then we must have some idea of what 

 it meaos to bird life. Frank M. Chap- 

 man in his Handbook of Birds of East- 

 ern North America states that after 

 one storm 1400 birds were picked up 

 at the base of the Batholdi Statue at 

 the mouth of the Hudson river. An- 

 other way by which I think many 

 birds must lose their lives is by being 

 blown from land by strong winds, be- 

 coming exhausted and dropping into 

 the sea. I have been out many morn- 

 ings in a boat some half a mile or 

 more from the island waiting for ducks 

 to come to my decoys, when the day 

 before and during the night the wind 

 had blown very strong from the north 

 or northwest, and about sunrise the 

 small birds would begin to fly in from 

 sea in numbers from one to three or 

 four in sight at one time. This they 

 would continue to do until noon. 

 Many of them would be seen to drop 



