^°i8 ' I Trowbridge, Ha-vk Fliff/its in Connecticut. 260 



The hawks migrating from eastern Canada and all the New 

 England States are those which find their course turned by the 

 southern coast line of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connec- 

 ticut, and although many hawks may fiy over the water to Long 

 Island, yet I am quite confident, from all my observations, that the 

 great majority of them do not attempt it, but that they pass west- 

 ward along the coast through Connecticut, whenever they fly from 

 the north with a strong free wind, and find themselves at Long 

 Island Sound. 



The above theory, accounting for these hawk flights, applies 

 equally to flights of other land birds which occur occasionally, and 

 the abundance of various species, on the southern border of the 

 three above-named New England States, in the fall of the year, 

 for often there occurs during the autumn months a large flight of 

 land birds, which is always greatest near the coast. 



Perhaps the peculiarities of the ' flights ' of birds in various parts 

 of the world could be traced to causes similar to those which seem 

 to affect the migration of birds in New England ; for the position 

 and direction of coast lines, and even mountain ranges, and the 

 direction of the wind, are certainly very important factors in the 

 migration of wild fowl. Thus it seems as if in the case of the 

 flights in southern New England, that the east and west direction 

 of the coast line, and the wind, both have their effect in influenc- 

 ing the migration of the hawks and other land birds. 



There have always been flights of some size of the diurnal Rap- 

 tores during the fall of every year, except when the prevailing 

 winds have been east. In that case the greater portion of the 

 migrating hawks seem to have been blown and to have flown to 

 the westward. And as a southwest line of flight from most of the 

 New England States does not cross Connecticut, most of the hawks 

 must have gone south without passing over that State. 



Somewhat similar conditions must have existed during the spring 

 migrations ; when a southwest wind prevailed, and the hawks 

 were flying northward, they took advantage of it, and, in general, 

 sailed northeastwardly, and so have not passed over the southern 

 New England States in any great numbers, for these States did 

 not lie in the line of their flight, which accounts for the observed 

 scarcity of these migrating Raptores in the spring. 



