STUDY (IF L'IKD LIFE 1 7 



hour and a half, making allowance for frequent stops. Often the 

 writer would stay out but an hour, either going directly to the 

 river, or walking around both lakes. 



In gathering data for the study of the migration of birds, 

 not only is sufficient time required, but it must be available daily, 

 or better, morning and evening. Few persons are in a position to 

 be able to give their time regularly to this study, or if they have 

 time for it, their place of residence is not favorable for observations 

 of bird life. The writer has been very fortunate in both these 

 respects, living in such a place as he has described above, and having 

 leisure through a large part of the day. For more than eleven 

 years, season after season, he has gone forth to field and grove to 

 renew his acquaintance with his many beautiful and tuneful 

 feathered friends. 



The migration of our birds has proved a most interesting, and 

 in some phases, the most mysterious part of a bird's life. The many 

 dates of arrival and departure of the different species have been 

 compared, and in a considerable number of instances there was 

 found marked irregularity for several seasons. How to accountf or 

 this irregularity is the mysterious feature of migration. Sometimes 

 it may be inclement weather that causes delay in the arrival of 

 certain species; at other times the weather will be fine, but still 

 the birds may not arrive earlier. Why do they not arrive earlier 

 is an unanswerable question to the writer. And this element of 

 mystery adds new interest to the study of ornithology. 



The two seasons of migration — spring and autumn — afford 

 unequal facilities for securing dates of migration, the latter season 

 presenting more difficulties. In spring most of the birds are in 

 song when they arrive; the trees are quite bare yet; and there is a 

 tendency for all the species to delay more on their northward 

 journey: but in autumn, the songs have nearly all died away; 

 many species feed quietly in thick shrubbery; and often others 

 quickly pass southward, fearful of mishaps to their young, which 

 follow them in flocks. And I was told by a reliable ornithologist 

 that there is not available any satisfactory data on the autumn 

 migration of our birds. Here, then, is an unworked field for devoted 

 students of bird life. 



The migration and distribution of birds have elements of 

 similarity, at least they need not present much difficulty to the 

 student who tries to study them simultaneously. By recording all 



