Destruction by Elements and Disease ii 



in great numbers from this cause. Flocks of 

 warblers winging their way across the Gulf of 

 Mexico or one of the Great Lakes, are some- 

 times overtaken by heavy storms which result 

 in their wholesale destruction. Plucky as they 

 are, their tiny muscles are no match for the 

 mighty winds which sweep the water, and they 

 are beaten backward and downward, with no 

 spot on which to rest even for a moment. Even 

 in such dark hours, their courage asserts itself; 

 they do not give up, but battle still with their 

 giant foe, which hurls them far from their course. 

 Then perhaps comes a cold and driving rain, 

 which soaks their plumage and increases the 

 burden already too great for the weary muscles. 

 Down they go toward the roaring water beneath 

 them, until they are met by the leaping waves, 

 which lick them into the deep, where the last 

 spark of their dauntless courage is quenched in 

 death. Next morning their tiny, bright-colored 

 bodies may be found strewn for miles along the 

 coast, among the shells and pebbles of the beach. 

 The cold storms of late spring, which come 

 after many of the migrants have arrived, some- 

 times kill nearly all the birds of certain species 

 over a wide area of country. Insect-eating birds 

 suffer most as a rule from these storms, because 

 the insects are driven to cover and are hard 



