OUR GREATEST TRAVELERS 



355 



palm warblers should follow up the 

 broad, open highway of the Mississippi 

 River to its source and go thence to their 

 breeding grounds, while the warblers of 

 the Antilles should use the Alleghany 

 Mountains as a convenient guide. 



As a matter of fact, as shown on the 

 map (page 352), the Louisiana birds nest 

 in Labrador, and those from the An- 

 tilles cut diagonally across the United 

 States to summer in central Canada, 

 The two routes cross each other in Geor- 

 gia at approximately right angles. 



Another idiosyncrasy of bird migra- 

 tion is the adoption by the Connecticut 

 warbler of different routes for its south- 

 ward and northward journeys. All the 

 individuals of this species winter in 

 South America, and, as far as known, all 

 go and come by the same direct route 

 between Florida and South America, 

 across the West Indies ; but north of 

 Florida the spring and fall routes di- 

 verge. The spring route (page 353) leads 

 the birds up the Mississippi Valley to 

 their summer home in southern Canada ; 

 but fall migration begins with a 1,000- 

 mile trip almost due east to New Eng- 

 land, whence the coast is followed 

 southwest to Florida. 



The Connecticut warbler is considered 

 rare, but the multitudes that have struck 

 the Long Island light-houses during Oc- 

 tober storms show how closely the birds 

 follow the coast-line during fall migra- 

 tion. 



The map represents the spring-migra- 

 tion route as far as at present known. 

 The fact that the route is practically 

 north and south through Ohio and then 

 turns abruptly west indicates a large and 

 as yet undiscovered breeding area in On- 

 tario north of lakes Huron and Superior. 

 Indeed, so little is known about the nest- 

 ing of the Connecticut warbler that the 

 eggs obtained by Mr. Seaton more than 

 25 years ago still remain unique. 



Incidentally this route of the Connec- 

 ticut warbler is a conclusive argument 

 against the theory that migration routes 

 indicate the original pioneer path by 



which the birds invaded the region of 

 their present summer homes. 



THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS FLIGHT IN 

 THE WORLD — 2,500 MILES 



Such elliptical migration routes as that 

 mentioned above are rare among land 

 birds, but are used and on a far larger 

 scale by many water birds, notable 

 among which is the golden plover. This 

 species nests along the Arctic coast of 

 North America, and 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 fat- 

 tens for several weeks on the abundant 

 native fruits. A short trip across the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence brings it to Nova 

 Scotia, the starting point for its extra- 

 ordinary ocean flight, due south to the 

 coast of South America (page 354). 



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. Hav- 

 ing 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 

 by an entirely different route. It travels 

 across northwestern South America and 

 the Gulf of Mexico, reaching the Lmited 

 States along the coasts of Louisiana 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. 



