Pilgrims of the Night 



follows the Atlantic Coast in a broad belt, 

 widening as it extends northward in the 

 spring, and narrowing correspondingly in 

 the fall. The Mississippi Valley and the 

 Pacific Coast are the pathways of the other 

 two great streams of feathered pilgrims, in 

 the United States. For some unexplained 

 reason birds always shape the course of their 

 migrations by large bodies of water prob- 

 ably because of the guidance which these 

 afford. 



One other curious fact should be men- 

 tioned concerning our migrating songsters, 

 and that is that the older male birds invari- 

 ably go ahead, the females and younger 

 birds following somewhat later. The reason 

 for this has never been satisfactorily deter- 

 mined. We may assume that it is the desire 

 of the males somehow to "clear the way" 

 for the females an expression of that gal- 

 antry or chivalry so noticeable among birds. 

 I, for one, should be very loth to believe 

 that the male birds hasten away first, as 

 some men undoubtedly do, to have a good 

 time among themselves before the arrival 

 of their wives and children! 



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