Vol. XXII 

 1905 



Clark, Migratioji of Shore Birds. 1^7 



cies ; and the fact that they cross over to Europe and then pro- 

 ceed to southern Africa instead of going to southern South America 

 is merely due to their starting on their journey by the same route 

 by which they originally reached the territory. This, however, 

 is not so serious an objection as might at first sight appear ; for 

 very possibly the species were first established in those regions by 

 certain individuals or companies getting off the main track of the 

 migrations north along the coasts of Africa and Europe, and, 

 directing their course from perhaps northwestern Africa across 

 the prevailing southwesterly winds (in the spring), finally reach- 

 ing land in Greenland and the regions immediately to the west 

 of it. 



Starting from Labrador and the eastern Canadian Provinces, 

 the Golden Plover would fly in a southeasterly direction, across 

 the prevailing southwesterly winds until the latitude of Bermuda 

 was reached. This would bring them to a point a few hundred 

 miles to the eastward of those islands. Here the course would 

 change to westerly, and then southwesterly in the ' horse lati- 

 tudes.' The variable and rather light winds which occur here at 

 this season would tend to scatter the flocks somewhat, and we 

 should expect the line of migration to be somewhat wider from 

 this point south. The prevailingly southeasterly, then easterly 

 winds in the ' horse latitudes ' would cause them to go first in a 

 southwesterly direction, becoming more southerly as the northern 

 limit of the northeast trades was approached. They would begin 

 to feel the effects of the trades in a position due east of the 

 Bahamas, and due north of Porto Rico. Their course would 

 then change from southerly to southeasterly, and they would pass 

 along just to the eastward of, and over, the Lesser Antilles, 

 reaching northern South America in the Guianas. At the season 

 when the birds reach the Guianas, the wind in that district is very 

 light, but what little there is comes from the east. Here they 

 stop and feed (being in a very lean condition after their long 

 flight) and appear, from what I can learn from people who have 

 travelled in the interior of British Guiana, to follow up the rivers 

 into the higher land. 1 



1 There is a specimen in the British Museum from Mt. Roraima, and one 

 from the Maroni River, Surinam. 



