The Birds and Poets 179 



sixty, then one hundred and eight and lastly over a 

 thousand miles up the Atlantic coast, and again 

 eight hundred and fifty miles directly across the 

 Gulf of Mexico where there could be no possible 

 landmark to guide the birds' return, and in every 

 instance, after a reasonable length of time, depend- 

 ing upon the distance travelled, the birds were 

 found again occupying their nests at Bird Key. 



Doubtless this sense of direction in the aborigi- 

 nal man was strong and perhaps as unerring as it is 

 now with the birds, but in the course of many gen- 

 erations of culture man came to rely so much upon 

 various mechanical devices and guides invented 

 and designed for his aid, and so little upon instinct, 

 that the latter ultimately became, as it were, atro- 

 phied from disuse, leaving him almost wholly 

 dependent upon artificial guides to enable him 

 safely to find his way about the world. No such 

 change, of course, has taken place with the birds. 

 With them this sixth sense is at least as strong as it 

 ever was. 



Therefore it unfortunately happens that thou- 

 sands of birds during their migration are actually 

 lured to their death by one of the very devices 

 designed by man to assist him in avoiding the dan- 

 gers incident to his travels. Lighthouses for some 

 unknown reason seem to hold an almost irresistible 

 attraction for birds migrating at night, and the 

 brighter the light, the greater the attraction. 

 Especially upon dark or stormy nights, during the 

 migration season, the birds seem drawn to these 



