184 



OUR GREATEST TRA^'ELERS 



in the Xorth. E\"er\- fall a still greater 

 death-toll is exacted when the return. 

 journe\' is made. 



Light-houses are scattered e\'er_v few 

 miles along the more than 3,000 miles 

 of our coast-line, hut two light-houses — 

 Fowev Rocks and Sombrero Ke^' — are 

 responsible for far more bird tragedies 

 than any others. The reason is twr)fold : 

 their geographic position and the char- 

 acter of their lights. Both are situated 

 at the southern end of Florida, where 

 countless thousands of birds pass each 

 year to and from Cuba. Both lights are 

 of the first magnitude, on towers 100-140 

 tect high, and Fowe\' Rocks has a fixed 

 white light, the deadhest of all 



A red light or a rapidly flashing one 

 repels the birds, but a steady white light 

 piercing the storm and fog proves irre- 

 sistible. From wliate\'er direction thev 

 approach thc\" \-eer to windward, and 

 then, flying against the wind, seek the 

 object of their infatuation. The larger 

 part do not strike with sufficient force to 

 injure themsehes, but, like great moths, 

 they flutter in and out of the light's rays, 

 and finally settle on the platform or 

 framework to await the abatement of 

 the storm or the coming of sufficient da^•- 

 light to enable them once more to orient 

 themselves. 



NEIGHBORS IN WINTER AND REMOTE 

 STRANGERS IN SUMMER 



The two maps on ]3ages 183 and 185 

 show the extremes of direct and circui- 

 tous routes of migration. All black-poll 

 warblers winter in South jVmerica. Those 

 that are to nest in Alaska strike straight 

 across the Caribbean Sea to Florida 

 and go northwestward to the Atississippi 

 River. Then the direction changes and 

 a course is laid almost due north to 

 northern Minnesota, in order to avoid 

 the treeless plains of North Dakota. But 

 when the forests of the Saskatchewan, 

 are reached, the northwestern course is 

 resumed and, with a slight verging to- 

 ward the west, is held until the nesting- 

 site in the Alaska spruces is attained. 



The chfT swallows are winter neigh- 

 bors in South America of the black-poll 

 warblers. But when in earl)r spring na- 

 ture prompts the swallows who are to 



nest in Nova Scotia to seek the far-oft" 

 land where they were hatched, they begin 

 their journey to that region — which is 

 situated exactly north of their winter 

 abode — b)' a westward flight of several 

 hundred miles to Panama. Thence they 

 move slowly along the western shore 

 of the Caribbean Sea to Mexico and, 

 still avoiding any long trip over water, 

 go completely around the western end of 

 the Gulf. Elence as they cross Louisiana 

 they are moving in the opposite direction 

 from that in which they started. A 

 northeasterh' course from Louisiana to 

 Maine, and an easterh' one to Nova 

 Scotia, completes their spring migration. 

 This circuitous route has added more 

 than 2,000 miles to the distance traveled. 



THE WARBLER TRA^'ELS AT NIGHT, THE 

 SW.M.EOW B^' DAY 



Wh_v should the swallow elect so much 

 more roundal)out a route than that taken 

 b}' the warbler? The explanation is sim- 

 ple. The warbler is a night migrant. 

 Launching into the air soon after night- 

 fall, it wings its way through the dark- 

 ness toward some favorite lunch station, 

 usually several hundred miles distant, 

 where it rests and feeds for several days 

 before undertaking the next stage of its 

 journe}-. Its migration consists of a 

 series of long flights from one feeding 

 ]"ilace to the next, and naturally it takes 

 the most direct course between stations, 

 not deviating for an}- body of water that 

 can be compassed at a single flight. 



On the other hand, the swallow is a 

 flay migrant. I^ittle and often is its rule. 

 It begins its s]-iring migration several 

 weeks earlier than the warbler and 

 catches each d;iy's rations of fl>-ing in- 

 sects during a few hours of slow evolu- 

 tions, which at the same time accomplish 

 the work of n-iigration. It keeps along 

 the insect-teeming shores, and the 2,000 

 extra miles thereby added to the migra- 

 tion route are but a tithe of the distance 

 covered in pursuit of its dail\- food. 



IDIOSYNCRASIES IN MIGR.VTION ROUTES 



How migrating birds find their -w'ay 

 over the widespread regions lying be- 

 tween their winter and sun-imer homes 

 has always been one of the tantalizing 



