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#SCIEN6I 



[Vol. IV., No. 99. 



St. John, N.B., March 20; Prince Edward Island, 

 April 15; Godbout, on the north shore of the 

 mouth of the St. Lawrence, May. 21 ; Point Rich, 

 Newfoundland, May 1 ; and Greenly Island, off 

 Labrador, May 20. In the Mississippi valley, 

 Prof. W. W. Cooke has ascertained that robins 

 usually winter north to about latitude 39 , but that 

 the unusual cold of January, 1884, drove the bulk 

 of them south of the parallel of 37 . Returning, 

 the regular advance began March 9, and in a single 

 week they spread over Illinois and eastern Ne- 

 braska to latitude 41 51'; March 16 there was a 

 slight advance in Iowa; on the 19th and 20th they 

 pushed forward in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin 

 (but not in Nebraska), to latitude 43 ; March 21 

 there was a sudden spreading over Wisconsin to 

 latitude 45 . In the Red-river country, latitude 

 47 was attained April 3 ; and one week later the 

 first robin of the season sang at Oak Point, Mani- 

 toba, latitude 50 30'. From Mr. Belding's notes, 

 it appears that the western race of the robin 

 (Merula migratoria propinqua) winters more or less 

 abundantly throughout the greater part of Cali- 

 fornia, moving northward in February, March, and 

 April. Its nest and eggs were found at Seattle, 

 Washington Territory, May 1. In Alaska our 

 robin has been seen in the Chilkat region as early 

 as the end of April, and at Nulato about the middle 

 of May 



The following statement shows approximately 

 the average dates of arrival, in the latitude of New- 

 York City and southern Connecticut, of a number 

 of common and well-known birds. The yearly 

 variation is considerable, and is greatest in the 

 early-comers, amounting in some cases to upwards 

 of two weeks. The robin (Merula migratoria) 

 may be expected about the middle of February; 

 wood-thrush (Turdus mustelinus), first week in 

 May ; brown thrasher (Harporhynchus rufus), May 

 1 ; catbird (Mimus Carolinensis), May 1 ; blue- 

 bird (Sialia sialis), early in February ; house-wren 

 (Troglody tesaedon), May 1 ; yellow-rumped war- 

 bler (Dendroeca coronata), middle of April; barn- 

 swallow (Hirundo erythrogastra horreorum), April 

 25 ; scarlet tanager(Pyranga rubra), May 10; red- 

 eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus), May 6; rose-breasted 

 grosbeak (Zamelodia ludoviciana), May 12; indigo- 

 bird (Passerina cyanea), May 12; chewink (Pipilo 

 erythrophthalmus), May 1 ; bobolink (Dolichonyx 

 oryzivorus), May 10; red-winged blackbird (Age- 

 laeus phoeniceus), March 1 ; Baltimore oriole 

 (Icterus galbula), May 8 ; king-bird (Tyrannus 

 Carolinensis), May 8; pewee (Sayornis fuscus), 



early March ; whippoorwill (Caprimulgus vocife- 

 rus), May 1 ; night-hawk (Chordeiles pepetue), May 

 10; chimney-swift (Chaetura pelasgica), latter part 

 of April ; humming-bird (Trochilus colubris), May 

 5 ; kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon), flicker (Colaptes 

 auratus), and fish-hawk (Pandion haliaetus Caro- 

 linensis), late in March. 



TORNADOES, AND HOW TO ESCAPE 

 THEM. 



" Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks ! Rage / blow / 

 You cataracts and hurricanoes, spoilt 

 Till yo7i have drench' d our steeples, drown' d the cocks / 



Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep." 



Shakspeare. 



Tornadoes are among the most characteristic 

 features of the central states of the Union. Their 

 opportunity comes when a broad cyclonic disturb- 

 ance of our regular westerly winds brings cold 

 air of the north-western plains down to meet warm 

 southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico. A mod- 

 erate number of miles east of the average contact- 

 lines of these two currents, the tornadoes are 

 formed, when they appear at all. A number of 

 them frequently occur at about the same time, for 

 the contrasts of temperature and moisture that 

 permit the development of one are generally wide- 

 spread enough to produce several more. Fig. 1 

 illustrates the tracks of the tornadoes of Feb. 19, 

 1883, when the southern states were swept over by 



Fig. 



a large number of these storms, — in Kentucky 

 and Alabama about noon, in eastern Alabama and 

 Georgia during the afternoon, and in the Carolinas 



