THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS 



THE migration of birds is one of the most striking, 

 as it is one of the most beautiful, of seasonal 

 phenomena. Their regular coming and going, often com- 

 pared to the flow and ebb of tides, has excited the admira- 

 tion of the observant in all ages. " Yea," the Hebrew 

 prophet said, " the stork in the heaven knoweth her 

 appointed times ; and the turtle and the crane and the 

 swallow observe the time of their coming," and still we wait 

 expectant in the Spring for the return of the cuckoo and 

 the nightingale, or watch wonderingly in the Autumn the 

 departure of those birds " who change their season in the 

 night, and wail their way from cloud to cloud down the 

 long wind/' 



Regarding the flow and ebb of the feathered tide our 

 ignorance is still immense, but that is no reason for leaving 

 the subject severely alone till its formulae can be stated. 

 Much has been discovered in regard to migration ; much is 

 in process of being discovered ; there is always fascination 

 in a subject which is developing. The Indians used to 

 name some of the months after the conspicuous migrants ; 

 and whether we understand the why and how of the move- 

 ments, they are certainly before us to be seen, enjoyed, and 

 puzzled over. We shall confine ourselves in this chapter 

 to a statement of the fundamental facts, leaving till later 

 any discussion of the problems or of the methods of investi- 

 gation. 



(i) In the Northern Hemisphere, migration is a very 



