THE TRAVELS OF BIRDS 



Unless what is called the "homing instinct" 

 acts in the fall as well as in the spring and thus 

 leads birds year after year to the same place in 

 winter just as we know it does in summer, I can 

 give no reason for the return of these birds each 

 autumn to this remote group of islands. 



Whatever may be the true explanation of the 

 origin and cause of this journey, it is in many 

 respects the most marvelous of all bird travels. 

 Perhaps the Golden Plovers of the Atlantic may 

 fly just as far without resting as those of the 

 Pacific, but if they are overtaken by storms there 

 are numbers of islands scattered along their 

 route, or they may reach the mainland. 



But when the Golden Plover starts on his 

 journey to and from Hawaii he has at least two 

 thousand miles of water to cross without one 

 single place in which he could take refuge from 

 a storm. 



For a true sea bird like a Petrel, or a Sea-snipe 



like the Phalarope, such a journey would be an 



easy matter. When they were tired they would 



simply drop down on the water, tuck their heads 



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