THIRD WEEK] March 75 



within a few } r ards. Such birds have been found almost 

 cut in two by the force with which they struck the wire. 



The elements frequently catch birds unaware and 

 overpower them. A sudden wind or storm will drive 

 coast-flying birds hundreds of miles out to sea, and oceanic 

 birds may be blown as far inland. Hurricanes in the 

 West Indies are said to cause the death of innumerable 

 birds, as well as of other creatures. From such a cause 

 small islands are known to have become completely de- 

 populated of their feathered inhabitants. Violent hail- 

 storms, coming in warm weather without warning, are 

 quite common agents in the destruction of birds, and in 

 a city thousands of English sparrows have been stricken 

 during such a storm. After a violent storm of wet snow 

 in the middle West, myriads of Lapland longspurs were 

 once found dead in the streets and suburbs of several 

 villages. On the surface of two small lakes, a conservative 

 estimate of the dead birds was a million and a half! 



The routes which birds follow in migrating north and 

 south sometimes extend over considerable stretches of 

 water, as across the Caribbean Sea, but the only birds 

 which voluntarily brave the dangers of the open ocean 

 are those which, from ability to swim, or great power of 

 flight, can trust themselves far away from land. Not 

 infrequently a storm will drive birds away from the land 

 and carry them over immense distances, and this accounts 

 for the occasional appearance of land birds near vessels 

 far out at sea. Overcome with fatigue, they perch for 

 hours in the rigging before taking flight in the direction 

 of the nearest land, or, desperate from hunger, they fly 



