64 IN BIRD LAND. 
Ny 
ARRIVAL tOly “HE 2BiR' Ds. 
AVE any of my readers kept a record of the 
arrival of the birds during the spring? ‘The 
northward procession of the battalions in feathers is 
an interesting study. Why do some birds begin 
their pilgrimage from the south so much earlier than 
others? What is there in their physical and mental 
make-up that gives them the northward impulse even 
before fair weather has come? Do they become 
homesick for their summer haunts sooner than their 
fellows? These are questions that are much more 
easily asked than answered. ‘The size of the bird 
furnishes no clew to the solution, for some small 
birds are better able to resist the cold than many 
larger ones. ‘There is the little black-capped tit- 
mouse —a mere mite of a bird — which generally 
remains in my neighborhood all winter, cheerfully 
braving the stormiest weather; while the brown 
thrasher, fully five times as large, is carefully warm- 
ing his shins in the sunny south, and will not ven- 
ture north until the spring has come to stay. Here, 
too, is Bewick’s wren on the first day of April, — 
with no thought of making an April fool of any 
one, — while the Baltimore orioles, rose-breasted 
