MANNER OP MIGRATION. 57 



Observations of this kind should 1)6 made in Septem- 

 ber, Avhen tlie fall migration is at its height. On the 

 night of September 3, 1887, at Tenafly, Ne\v Jersey, a 

 friend and myself, using a six-and-a-Jialf-inch equatorial 

 glass, saw no less than two hundred and sixty-two birds 

 cross the narrow angle sul)tended by the limits of the 

 moon between the hours of eight and eleven. Oljserva- 

 tions made several years later, in September, from the 

 observatory of Columljia University, yielded closely simi- 

 lar results. 



This nocturnal journey of birds may also be studied 

 from lighthouses. On September 26, 1801, I visited the 

 Bartholdi Statue of the Goddess of Liberty, in New York 

 Bay, for this purpose. The weather was most favorable. 

 The first bird was observed at eight o'clock, and for 

 the succeeding two hours others were constantly heard, 

 though comparatively few were seen. At ten o'clock it 

 began to rain ; and almost simultaneously there was a 

 marked increase in the numljer of birds about the light, 

 and within a few minutes there were hundreds where 

 before there was one, \vliile the air was filled with the 

 calls of the passing host. 



From the balcony which encircles the torch the scene 

 was impressive beyond description. We seemed t(j have 

 torn aside the veil which shrouds the mysteries of the 

 night, and with the searching light exposed the secrets 

 of Nature. 



By far the larger number of birds hurried onward ; 

 others hovered before us, like Humniiugbirds before a 

 flo^ver, then flew swiftly by into the darkness ; and some, 

 apparently blinded by the lu-illiant rays, struck the statue 

 slightly, or with sutficient force to cause them to fall dead 

 or dying. At daybreak a few stragglers were still wing- 

 ing their way southward, but before the sim rose the 

 fiijj-ht was over. 



