62 THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



hundred miles without any intermediate resting-place. 

 To accomplish this distance would, at the lowest speed of 

 flight as determined in the case of a wild bird viz., the 

 hooded crow occupy about fourteen and a half hours. 

 On the other hand, in the case of the bluethroat only nine 

 hours would be required. Nor is there any reason for 

 doubting that a healthy bird and a fairly good flier is 

 capable of remaining on the wing for nine, and in extreme 

 cases even fifteen, hours. 



It is a fact that during its autumn migration the 

 Virginian plover travels from the Hudson Bay Territory 

 and Labrador, across Guiana and Northern Brazil, to 

 Lower South America, or three thousand two hundred 

 geographical miles. 



It has been further observed that in the course of their 

 normal passage these birds neither resort to Bermuda nor 

 to the Antilles for resting purposes, but fly across without 

 alighting, and the only interruption of the journey is when 

 forced by sudden and violent storms, in which case count- 

 less numbers of them seek shelter on one or other of these 

 aforementioned islands. Observation has also revealed the 

 fact that they travel in a southerly direction, some six 

 hundred miles east of Bermuda, for whole days and nights, 

 in dense flocks, succeeding each other without interruption 

 or intermission, and numbering from a hundred to a 

 thousand head. These flocks, it is averred on the best 

 authority, proceeding from Labrador to Northern Brazil, 

 meet nowhere with any resting-place in the course of 

 their long migratory flight across the ocean, and are 

 consequently obliged to perform this long stretch of 3,200 

 miles without a stoppage. They thus accomplish double 

 the distance of 1,600 miles from Newfoundland to Ireland, 

 and, consequently, remove every doubt as regards the 

 possibility of the latter achievement. 



It will perhaps occur to the reader that it is possible 

 some of these birds would become exhausted before reach- 

 ing land, and thus perish. It is known, however, that 

 such land-birds as thrushes, buntings, finches, and the like 



