THE DANGERS BY THE WAY 



dental Visitants" and record their presence in 

 our bird magazines. 



I shall never forget the pleasure with which, 

 soon after I began the study of birds, I discov- 

 ered a Lark Finch near my home in New Jersey. 

 This is a bird of the Mississippi Valley and the 

 West, which had been recorded from New Jer- 

 sey only once before, and its visit caused me quite 

 as much excitement as though I had found a 

 wholly new species. 



During migrations, particularly in the fall, 

 thousands of birds stray from the proper line of 

 flight and are lost in this way. Generally they 

 are born during the preceding summer and hence 

 are young and inexperienced. 



However much we may regret their misfor- 

 tune, I must confess that long after one has 

 learned to know all the birds that should come, 

 the probability of seeing some stranger from a 

 distant part of the country adds not a little to 

 the keen interest with which we watch the mi- 

 grants stream by. 



Nor should we lack for all of them that feel- 

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