evidences of being tired, but their condition is far from being in a 

 state of emaciation or exhaustion. The popular notion birds find long 

 ocean flights so excessively wearisome that they sink exhausted when 

 terra firma is reached generally does not coincide with the facts. 



The truth is, even small landbirds are so little exhausted by ocean 

 voyages, they not only cross the Gulf of Mexico at its widest point but 

 may even proceed without pause many miles inland before stopping. 

 The sora, considered such a weak flyer that at least one writer was led 

 to infer most of its migration was made on foot, has one of the longest 

 migration routes of any member of the rail family and even crosses 

 the wide reaches of the Caribbean Sea. Observations indicate that 

 under favorable conditions birds can fly when and where they please 

 and the distance covered in a single flight is governed chiefly by the 

 amount of stored fat. Exhaustion, except as the result of unusual 

 factors such as strong adverse winds, cannot be said to be an 

 important peril of migration. 



60 



