WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



caused by bad weather being made up by days (or 

 nights) of far more rapid travel. The general 

 sense of haste increases as the birds proceed. They 

 not only have less bad weather, but loiter less in 

 May than they did in March, and those species 

 late in migrating always show more haste than the 

 early comers. Especially is this true of birds that 

 are bound for Hudson Bay or the arctic shores, 

 and which towards the last must greatly increase 

 their speed, since their arrival there is reported 

 on dates little in advance of their appearance in 

 our Central States, and quite as soon as the coun- 

 try is sufficiently free from ice and snow to permit 

 them to obtain food. They feel that they need 

 all the time the brief Northern summer affords, 

 and must not be tardy; neither must they be too 

 soon, or some backward blow from the retreating 

 forces of winter may overwhelm them, as some- 

 times happens in spite of this caution. Their eager- 

 ness to advance into the extreme North, indeed, 

 frequently leads them to brave storms and cold that 

 are often fatal ; while in the autumn the first frosts 

 frighten them southward. 



Even the smallest and shortest-winged birds are 

 capable of extraordinary flights, impelled by their 

 eagerness to reach home. Warblers, fly-catchers, 



lOI 



