BIRD MIGRATION. 17 



migration (see jig. 4). In the first week of June the golden plover 

 arrive at their breeding grounds on the "barren grounds" above the 

 Arctic Circle far beyond the tree line. While the lakes are still ice- 

 bound they build their shallow nests in the moss only a few inches 

 above the frozen ground. As soon as the young are old enough to 

 care for themselves fall migration is begun by a trip to the Labrador 

 coast, where the plover fatten for several weeks on the abundant 

 native fruits. Thence a short trip across the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 brings them to Nova Scotia, the starting point for their extraordinary 

 ocean flight due south to the coast of South America, their objective 

 point. In fair weather the birds fly past Bermuda without stopping, 

 and many flocks do not pause at the first of the Antilles but keep on 

 to the larger islands and sometimes even to the mainland of South 

 America, accomplishing the whole 2,400 miles without pause or rest. 

 How many days are occupied in the trip may never be known. Most 

 migrants fly at night and rest in the day or vice versa, but the plover 

 fly both night and day. After a short stop on the northern coast of 

 South America they resume their journey and travel overland to the 

 pampas of Argentina. Here they remain from September to March 

 (the summer of the Southern Hemisphere) free from the domestic 

 responsibilities of their northern summer home. The native birds of 

 Argentina are at the time engrossed in family cares, but no way- 

 farer from the north ever nests in the south. 



After a six months' vacation here the plover start back to the 

 Arctic, but by an entirely different route. They cross northwestern 

 South America and the Gulf of Mexico, reaching the United States 

 along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Thence they move slowly 

 up the Mississippi Valley and by early June are again at the nesting- 

 site on the Arctic coast. The 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 America to Argentina. 



The golden plover of the Atlantic Ocean, though often flying 2,400 

 miles continuously, could make intermediate stops if they so desired. 

 Sometimes, when storm driven, they seek the nearest land and not 

 infrequently appear at Cape Cod and Long Island. Some flocks stop 

 for longer or shorter periods at Bermuda and on the islands of the 

 Lesser Antilles. To the golden plover of the Pacific, however, no 

 such convenient harbors of safety are available. Their flight of 

 approximately equal length (2,000 miles) takes them across an island- 

 less sea from Alaska to Hawaii. No matter what storms are en- 

 countered, when once they are started over the ocean they must con- 

 tinue to the end or perish. It seems incredible that any birds can 

 lay a course so straight as to attain these small islands in midocean, 

 2,000 miles from the Aleutian Islands on the north, 2,000 miles from 



76048°— Bull. 185—15 3 



