OUR GREATEST TRAVELERS 



349 



MIGRATION ROUTE OE THE CTJEE SWALLOWS THAT NEST IN NOVA SCOTIA (SEE PAGES 



348, 351, AND 365) 

 The swallow, unlike the warbler, travels by day 



thence by land through Central America 

 to South America. Probably more indi- 

 viduals follow this route than all the 

 other routes combined. 



The birds east of the Alleghany Moun- 

 tains move southwest in the fall approxi- 

 mately parallel with the seacoast, and 

 most keep this same direction across the 

 Gulf to eastern Mexico. The birds of 

 the central Mississippi Valley go south- 

 ward to and over the Gulf. The birds 

 between the Missouri River and the edge 

 of the plains, and those of Canada east 

 of the Rocky Mountains, move south- 

 eastward and south until they join the 

 others in their passage of the Gulf. 



In other words, the great majority of 

 North American birds bound for a win- 



ter's sojourn in Central or South Amer- 

 ica elect a short cut across the Gulf of 

 Mexico in preference to a longer land 

 journey by way of Florida or Texas. In 

 fact, millions of them cross the Gulf at 

 its widest part, which necessitates a sin- 

 gle flight of 500 to 700 miles. 



The peninsula of Florida extends far 

 to the south, and the great island of 

 Cuba forms a convenient stepping-stone 

 between its coast-line and Yucatan. A 

 bird taking this highway would avoid 

 any long single flight; yet, with the ex- 

 ception of a few day-migrating swallows, 

 no bird is known to follow this route. 

 A probable explanation is that southern 

 Florida has vastly less bird food per 

 square mile than the country to the 



