CHAPTER THIRD 



THE COMIJJG OF THE BIRDS 



'T^HE moon in April is an important fac- 

 tor in the progress of that event — the 

 coming of the birds — which makes every 

 spring memorable. While not disposed to 

 w^ait upon it too long, still, there is little doubt 

 but that the birds that have been wintering 

 afar south travel very largely by its light, and 

 when it happens that the moon fulls between 

 the middle and the twenty-fifth of the month, 

 the flights of thrushes, orioles, wrens, and 

 other migrants reach us a week earlier than 

 when the nights are dark during the same 

 period. Temperature, storms, and general 

 backwardness of the season do not seem to 

 have a like importance in bird economy. 



Of course, by the coming of the birds I 

 do not refer to the pioneers that are in ad- 

 vance of every company. Indeed, I have 

 seldom announced the first of the season, but 



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