VOICES OF THE NIGHT. 65 



ing their young is ended, seek the seclusion of deep for- 

 ests and dense thickets, where they cast off their summer 

 plumage, don a traveling dress and make ready for the 

 fall migration. Then the great southern movement be- 

 gins. Each succeeding morning finds their numbers in- 

 creased by travelers who have arrived from the north dur- 

 ing the night, until at length, on an evening that prom- 

 ises to be favorable, they themselves set out upon a jour- 

 ney which, for some individuals of certain species, will end 

 only with the southern continent, in far-away Patagonia. 

 They travel more leisurely than do the wild geese and 

 most other water fowl, seeking some convenient shelter 

 at the approach of dawn, remaining in retirement or feed- 

 ing cautiously during the day, and resuming their journey 

 only under cover of the night. 



B3' the middle of August, or the first of September at the 

 latest, the bobolinks and the cliff swallows have left their 

 summer homes and have taken their course southward, 

 calling to one another in their flight. These are followed, 

 in September, by the scarlet tanager, many of the war- 

 blers, the Baltimore oriole, the humming-bird, the king- 

 bird, the pewee, the flycatchers and the vireos. Early in 

 October, the thrushes, the catbird, the nighthawk and 

 the chimney swift have left us, and by November the che- 

 wink, the brown thrasher, the phoebe, the red-winged 

 blackbird, the bluebird and the robin have given place to 

 the chickadees, the nuthatches, the kinglets and other 

 winter visitors from the north. 



It is rather remarkable how few of one's acquaintances 

 have ever noticed the night call of the song birds in their 

 fall migrations, for it is a sound which, when once listened 

 to with attention, will never be forgotten. Coming from 

 the upper air, and out of the darkness, it has a wonderful 

 power to stir the imagination, and the short note, repeated 

 at uncertain intervals, sometimes weak and timid, more 



