WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



start, however, which follows the Atlantic coast 

 and the eastern foothills of the Alleghanies towards 

 New York and New England. This last is aug- 

 mented, perhaps doubled, by accessions that have 

 come across the Caribbean Sea from South Amer- 

 ica to Florida, picking up West Indian recruits 

 on the way; or perhaps, as many do, going north 

 from the Antilles by way of the Bahamas and Ber- 

 muda, making nothing of the long water-jumps. 



Along these real highways of bird-travel the 

 migratory army moves steadily northward and 

 eastward, as the opening season advances, the 

 same sorts of bird always in the lead, and other 

 sorts uniformly at the rear. 



The arrival of each species at any given point 

 is remarkably regular, varying only a day or two 

 from the same date in average seasons; but the 

 migrations as a whole are influenced by the weath- 

 er, the birds coming earlier in a forward than in 

 a backward season. 



This means that they have met with less climatic 

 obstructions to their advance. The water-fowl 

 and marsh-birds, winging their way up the coast, 

 cannot make headway against a Hatteras gale, 

 but must seek shelter until it blows over; if such 

 gales are long or frequent, they will be considerably 



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