THE BIRDS' TIME-TABLE 



land and Canada. But in spite of their size and 

 the great distance they travel they closely follow 

 the time-table. Generally it will tell us within 

 a day or two when to expect them. 



The Warblers form the rear guard of the 

 army. After May 20, few migrants will arrive, 

 and in early June only stragglers will be seen. 



From the beginning, if we have watched 

 closely, we have noticed several things. First, 

 we have found that the male birds come before 

 the female. Remember that all the Red-wings 

 in the early March flocks had red shoulder 

 marks; that the Crackles were all large and 

 glossy; that the Cowbirds had brownish heads 

 and shining bodies. When the male and female 

 are alike in color and cannot therefore be distin- 

 guished, remember how often our attention has 

 been drawn to a newly arrived bird by its song. 

 Since the female rarely sings, we may safely say 

 that any bird we hear singing is a male; and 

 thus, even when he is colored like his mate, we 

 know that the male is the first to come. 



With the earlier birds the female does not 

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