﻿ii4 Bird -Lore 



does it know when to start for its home in the temperate clime where its 

 offspring were reared the previous year? Can it calculate the days and 

 hours that it will take to accomplish the distance? How can it retrace the 

 path traversed the previous autumn? It reaches its old home about the 

 same date each year, having traveled thousands of miles to do so. Most of 

 this journey was made in the night, sometimes at an altitude of many 

 thousand feet. The vision of all birds is very acute, and the Grosbeak may 

 fly from one landmark to another, which, when it is reached, may disclose 

 still another in the distance, and so on until home is reached. These 

 journeys are not continuous; during the daytime the traveler descends to 

 the earth for rest and food and at night resumes its journey again. During 

 the height of the migratory period, the upper air must be filled with thou- 

 sands of feathered wanderers, who are sometimes met by storms or thick 

 weather when all landmarks must be blotted out. It is known that they 

 then fly at a much lower altitude, for on such occasions they are attracted 

 .by light-houses, and thousands of birds of numerous species are killed by 

 flying against the glass of the lantern. This wonderful phenomenon of 

 Nature, migration, is well worth extended study, and the scholar is advised 

 to read the exhaustive treatment of the subject by Prof. Alfred Newton * 

 and Mr. W. W. Cooke. t 



The Rose-breasted Grosbeak selects as its home, most frequently, second 

 growths of oaks on the borders of large timber, but does not confine itself 

 exclusively to such localities. It builds a rather bulky nest of weed -stalks, 

 twigs, rootlets, etc., in bushes or trees from five to twenty feet from the 

 ground. The eggs are usually four in number, of a pale green color pro- 

 fusely speckled with brown. 



The song of this bird is the theme of every nature-writer, and all unite 

 in pronouncing it of the highest type. In some respects it resembles that of 

 the Robin, but it is thought to have a more refined and musical quality. 

 The description of the song of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Audubon is 

 such a delightful exhibition of the character of the man, showing so per- 

 fectly his childlike faith in a Creator, and his absolute absorption in the 

 beauties of Nature, that the passage is given in full: 



"One year, in the month of August, I was trudging along the shores of 

 the Mohawk River, when night overtook me. Being little acquainted with 

 that part of the country, I resolved to camp where I was. The evening 

 was calm and beautiful, the sky sparkled with stars, which were reflected 

 by the smooth waters, and the deep shade of the rocks and trees of the 

 opposite shore fell on the bosom of the stream, while gently from afar came 

 on the ear the muttering sound of the cataract. My little fire was soon 



* ' Dictionary of Birds,' Part 2, pages 54.7-572, London, 189?. 



t ' Reporton Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley' in Bull'n. No. 2, United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. Division of Economic Ornithology, Washington, 1888. 



