Note on the Migration of Warblers from the 

 Bahamas to Florida 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 



WHILE sailing from Miami, Florida, directly east across the Gulf 

 Stream to the Bahamas, in May, 1904, I observed three small 

 bodies of migrating Warblers flying toward Florida. The birds 

 were not so high in the air as we might have expected them to be, but 

 were flying low, within a few feet of the water. 



The first group of six or seven birds, among them a Redstart, was seen 

 about 6 A. M., May 10, when we were some six miles from land, which 

 was still, of course, plainly visible. Later in the day, when we were about 

 midway between the Florida coast and the Biminis, the nearest Bahaman 

 land, a compact flock of seventy-five to one hundred Warblers passed us, 

 flying slightly north of west. The birds were not more than ten feet above 

 the water and were evidently not guided by sight in their choice of direction. 



On the morning of May 11, as we approached the Bahaman banks, 

 between the Biminis and Great Isaacs, a third group of Warblers was seen, 

 and they, like the two preceding, were flying toward Florida within a few 

 feet of the water. 



April 28, 1904, a migratory ' wave ' of Warblers passed over Sebastian on 

 the east coast of Florida, Cape May Warblers being among the common 

 species. Nine miles further north, on the east shore of the Indian river at 

 Oak Lodge, the home of Mrs. F. E. B. Latham, which visiting naturalists 

 always recall with pleasure, Mrs. Latham supplies the birds with water, 

 which, as the accompanying photograph shows, is eagerly accepted. 



THIRSTY TRAVELERS 

 Migrating Warblers at Mrs. F. E. B. Lathams, Oak Lodge. Florida. 



Photographed by Miss H. B. Wood 



(140I 



