192 THE PASSING OF THE BIRDS. 



of observation. A few years of note-taking 

 will put one in possession of the approx- 

 imate dates of arrival of all our common 

 vernal migrants. Every local observer will 

 tell you when to look for each of the famil- 

 iar birds of his neighborhood; but he will 

 not be half so ready with information as to 

 the time of the same birds' departure. Ask 

 him about a few of the commonest, the 

 least flycatcher and the oven-bird, or the 

 golden warbler and the Maryland yellow- 

 throat. He will answer, perhaps, that he 

 has seen Maryland yellow-throats in early 

 October, and golden warblers in early Sep- 

 tember; but he will very likely add that 

 these were probably voyagers from the North, 

 and that he has never made out just when 

 his own summer birds take their leave. 



After the work of nidification is over, 

 birds as a rule wander more or less from 

 their breeding haunts ; and even if they do 

 not wander they are likely to become silent. 

 If we miss them, therefore, we are not to 

 conclude as a matter of course that they 

 have gone south. Last year, during the 

 early part of the season, cuckoos were unu- 

 sually plentiful, as it seemed to me. Then I 



