THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 



Vol. XXVII. July, 1910. No. 3. , 



MIGRATION OF THE PACIFIC PLOVER TO AND 

 FROM THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



BY H. W. HENSHAW. 



Since primitive times the phenomenon of Bird Migration has 

 excited peculiar interest, and although much of the mystery formerly 

 attaching to it has been dispelled by the prosaic facts brought to 

 light by modern investigations, it still presents enigmas to stimulate 

 the imagination and invite study. Hoio birds migrate is now 

 beginning to be understood, and the present practice of tabulating 

 dates of arrival and departure and collating the facts gathered by 

 numerous observers in different parts of the country is likely ere 

 long to give us the solution of many as yet unsolved problems. 

 Why birds migrate is quite another question, likely to resist satis- 

 factory solution for some time to come if, for no other reason, than 

 from the very nature of the case we can have comparatively few 

 facts to guide us, and speculation must largely take the place of 

 deduction. 



When we consider the number of miles traveled, the widely differ- 

 ent characters of the regions chosen for summer and winter abodes, 

 and the perils necessarily attending the passage between them, the 

 migration of no other of our birds appears so wonderful as that of 

 the Golden Plover. In part the migration routtt nf the eastern 

 form of the Golden Plover (Chamdriiis dominicus) is well under- 

 stood, and those interested in the subject are referred to a sug- 



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