Vol. XXIIT Clark, Migrations of Shore Birds. \ 1Q 



Col. Feilden remarks (Ibis, 1889, and West Indian Bulletin, 

 III, [1902], loc. cit.) that "a shift of wind from the northeast, with 

 squally weather to the southeast is ardently longed for by the 

 Barbados sportsmen towards the end of August, as this forces the 

 migratory hosts [of shore birds] to alight instead of passing over 

 at a great height, as they are seen to do when the wind is from 

 the northeast." 



Along the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts (where the wind 

 should be west or southwest to favor their flight), the gunners 

 have observed that numbers of Golden Plover sometimes appear 

 if the wind happens to be northeast at the time they are passing; 

 but if the wind shifts to the southwest, they all disappear. These 

 two instances seem to offer additional evidence that the birds are 

 to a considerable degree reliant on the direction of the wind to 

 guide them in their flight. 



Mr. Brewster believes that the knowledge that an immense 

 supply of food awaits them in Labrador would be more potent in 

 bringing the plover to that district than the direction of the wind. 

 Here, as in the case of the parallelism between the course taken 

 in the first stage of the migration by Golden Plover, and by the 

 Whimbrel and ^gia/itis hiaticula, the result would be the same, 

 no matter which was the true cause ; but it seems to me that the 

 question of food cannot influence these plover, as, although the 

 old birds may remember the attractions of Labrador in regard 

 to food, the young of the year, which have never seen the place 

 could hardly be influenced in the direction of their flight by any 

 such considerations, and in this species the young and old do not 

 migrate together, but the first to arrive at any given point are 

 invariably adults, and nearly all males; next come the females, 

 and, about twelve days after the main flight of the adult males, the 

 light-breasted young. It may, of course, be argued that the old 

 males lead the way, followed by the females and the young; but 

 it seems more probable that all are guided by the same cause, as 

 otherwise we should expect the young, if they should for a few 

 days lose sight of the others, to get off the track and turn up at 

 places remote from the usual path of migration, a thing which 

 they are no more liable than the adults to do. 



Of course it is probable that in wide and rich valleys, like those 



