XXII INTRODUCTION. 
these winter birds we notice especially members of the Sparrow family, Thrashers, 
Myrtle Warblers, Wood Thrushes, Robins, Bluebirds, etc. The more delicate insect eaters, 
such as the majority of the Warblers, the Baltimore Oriole, almost all the members of 
thé Swallow family move farther south to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, 
the West Indies, and even to northern South America. Most of our familiar northern 
birds are exceedingly wild and unapproachable in their winter-quarters. The Robin and 
the Catbird rarely enter gardens in the South, the latter preferring the seclusion of the 
dense underwood in forests, the former being more abundant in large woods. The lovely 
and familiar Bluebird feels very uneasy in its winter home and shuns the society of man. 
A large number of the small birds have only a short stay in their northern home. 
They appear by the end of May, build their nests, raise their young, and by the 
end of August or early in September are already on their way to their winter home. 
As a rule, the later the birds appear in spring, the earlier they return, and the earlier 
they arrive, the later they migrate southward. Some birds wander singly, others in 
paits or families, and many in large flocks and even swarms. Most of our songsters 
also migrate separately as regards sex; the males first, the females several days later. 
The old Martins leave their haunts earlier than the young. Every friend of nature 
knows that the male Robins, Baltimore Orioles, Martins, Scarlet Tanagers, Bluebirds, 
etc. arrive a few days earlier than the females of the same species. None of our birds 
breed in distant lands. The land of their winter resort is to them, indeed, a foreign 
country. There they are timid, live in retirement, do not sing, and never build nests or 
hatch. But when they return to their old homes, their natural cheerfulness returns and 
is thanifested by their delightful music. They departed sad and sorrowful, drawn by an 
irresistible force to the foreign country; with a new dress, cheerful, in full song they 
return to their old home. Their desire to return home is so strong, that frequently they 
appear too early, while cold weather still prevails, and nourishment is very scarce. Asa 
rule, all larger birds migrate in day-time, the small ones at night. The latter take their 
flight so high as to be often invisible, while their voices are distinctly audible. When 
the nights are dark and sultry, the birds, which often move in immense swarms, con- 
sisting of the same and different species, are frequently misled by the electric lights on 
towers, light-houses, and even by street lights in cities. Half blinded they flutter in 
large numbers about these lights, especially on light-houses, many being killed outright 
in striking the glass, others fly so forcibly against the light, that they injure themselves 
beyond hope of recovery. One of our leading ornithologists, Prof. Wm. Brewster, of 
Cambridge, Mass., spent about seven weeks at the light-house of Point Lepreaux, New 
Brunswick, with the purpose to observe the birds during their migration: He has laid 
down his observations in an excellent paper, “Bird Migration.” To show how the 
birds move, how they strike the light, and how many are killed, I quote what Mr. 
Brewster has observed in two nights, Sept. 1 and Sept. 4, 1885. 
“My stay at Point Lepreaux lasted nearly seven weeks, from August 13 to Sep- 
tember 26. Living at the house of the light-keeper (Mr. G. H. Thomas), within a few 
yards of the light-house itself, I was able to keep a close watch on the movements of 
the birds, and I believe that no flight of importance escaped my notice. At the time of 
my arrival the migration of many of the smaller land birds had begun. Nearly every 
