OUR GREATEST TRAVELERS 



187 



The golden plover takes a straight 

 course across the ocean, and, if the 

 weather is propitious, makes the whole 

 2,400 miles without pause or rest. But 

 if tempests arise, it may be blown out 

 of its course to the New England coast 

 and start anew on the advent of fair 

 weather ; or it may rest for a few days 

 at the Bermudas, one-third of the way 

 along its course, or at the nearest of the 

 Lesser Antilles, still 600 miles from the 

 mainland of South America. These, 

 however, are emergency stop-overs, to 

 be resorted to only in case of storms. 

 Having accomplished its ocean voyage, it 

 passes across eastern South America to 

 its winter home in Argentina. 



After a six months' vacation here, the 

 plover finds its way back to the Arctic 

 iDy an entirely different route. It travels 

 across northwestern South America and 

 the Gulf of ^Mexico, reaching the LTnited 

 States along the coasts of I.^ouisiana and 

 Texas. Thence it moves slowly up the 

 Mississippi Valley and by early June is 

 again at the nesting site on the Arctic 

 coast. Its round trip has taken the form 

 of an enormous ellipse, with a minor 

 axis of 2,000 miles and a major axis 

 stretching 8,000 miles from Arctic Amer- 

 ica to Argentina. 



HOW DID THE GOLDEN PEOVER COME TO 

 USE SUCH .\ DIFFICETLT ROUTE? 



The evolution of the elliptical route of 

 the golden plover, wonderful though it 

 is in its present extended form, is easily 

 traced through its various stages. To- 

 ward the end of the glacial era, when 

 the ice began to recede, the peninsula of 

 Florida was submerged and a compara- 

 tively small area of land in the south- 

 eastern United States was free from ice. 

 Any golden plover that attempted to fol- 

 low up the retreating ice must have been 

 confined to an all-land route from Cen- 

 tral America through Mexico and Texas 

 to the western part of the Mississippi 

 Valley. As larger areas of the eastern 

 United States were uncovered and be- 

 came available for bird habitation, ex- 

 tension of the route would be to the 

 northeast, until in time the whole of the 

 Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes 

 could be occupied. 



As the migration route lengthened and 

 powers of flight developed, there would 

 arise a tendency to straighten the line 

 and shorten it by cutting off some of the 

 great curve (No. i, page 188) through 

 Texas and Mexico. A short flight across 

 the western end of the Gulf of Mexico 

 was finally essayed (No. 2), and this 

 gradually lengthened and its points of de- 

 parture and arrival moved eastward until 

 eventually the roundabout curve through 

 Texas was discarded and the flight was 

 made directly from southern Louisiana 

 across the Gulf (No. 3). 



As the great areas of Canada were 

 added to the birds' domain, other condi- 

 tions arose. Here appeared a vast new 

 stretch of coast and plain — the Labrador 

 peninsula — oiTering in the fall rich stores 

 of the most delectable berries and fruits; 

 but at migrating time, in the spring, 

 bound by frost and shrouded in fog. 

 Since Chinook winds made the climate 

 of the interior of the continent just east 

 of the Rocky ^fountains especially favor- 

 able for spring migration, there arose 

 gradually a dividing of the spring and 

 fall routes, the fall route tending east- 

 ward (No. 4), while the spring route 

 remained unchanged. When the fall 

 route had worked eastward to the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence (No. 5), a shortening 

 began to take out the great westward 

 curve of the New England coast. A 

 short ocean flight \^'as attempted (No. 

 6) ; and, when this proved successful, it 

 was extended until the present direct 

 route (No. 7) across the Atlantic was 

 obtained. 



HOW DOES THE PEOVER FIND ITS W.\Y 

 EVERY SEASON TO THE LITTEE HA- 

 WAIIAN ISLANDS, 2,400 MIEES 

 ACROSS THE OCEAN? 



The above gives a probable and fairly 

 satisfactory explanation of the origin of 

 the present migration route of the golden 

 plover over the Atlantic Ocean. But this 

 is a ver}' simple problem compared with 

 that presented by the Pacific golden 

 plover. The Hawaiian Islands are in 

 the middle of the Pacific Ocean, distant 

 2,000 miles from California on the east, 

 2,400 miles from Alaska on the north, 

 and 3,700 miles from Japan to the west. 



