THE HIGRATIOX OF I\LA\D BIRDS. 
BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT, M. D. 
As understood by US, the migration of a bird is simply 
the desertion of a given locality by that species for a 
certain, and alwa}-s the same, portion of each year. 
As an example, the commc^ housewren {Troglodytes 
(Bdon) is migratory, in that it remains in Jersey* only 
from late in Aprd until late in September, having left 
its Southern home for six months. 
Before endeavoring to determine the causes of the 
movement on the pail of some birds, we must first note 
the various features characterizing the movement itself ; 
for it may safely be asserted that no two birds migrate 
alike, although the similarity is marked among the 
various species of the same family. The most marked 
feature in migration is the apparent uniformity in the 
time of its bccurrence, i. e., of the dates of arrivals in 
spring, and of the departures in autumn. Is this arrival 
in spring as regular as claimed by some, and supposed 
by most people? To the casual observer, and, indeed 
to many who have for years noted the first appearance 
of our various birds, the arrival seems to be quite regu- 
lar; and, curiously enough, we find many such observ- 
ers insisting that, however late a bird may be any one 
season, he is never earlier than a given dale. Thus we 
have been frequently told that a wren is never seen be- 
fore the 1st of May, and usuall}' upon that day the}' are 
herein full force. Xow, let any one be determined 
to watch day and night for the first birds of the season; 
let him wander all day in or about tangled thickets, and 
sheltered sunny hill-sides; let him, with sleepless eye, 
scrutinize every haunt of the birds, and with vigilant 
ear listen to every faint chirp and far-oflf twitter, and 
follow up every undetermined bird-note; let him do 
this, year after year, from April 1st to 30th, and he will 
find his note-books teeming with records of "early” 
birds, that will ’come and go, all unsuspected by the 
mid-day observer, who often will insist upon the ab- 
sence altogether of a summer songster, that, skulking 
about, withholds its joyous songs until the woods have 
welcomed the full company of its kind, that of old have 
made merry in its shady nooks. The fact is. there is 
more to be learned about birds, in one hour of early 
morning, than in six weeks of mid-day sunshine. 
The amount of variation in the date of arrival of all 
of our spring birds Ls really considerable, and in the 
whole list of migratory inland birds that annually visit 
I^ew Jersey, either to remain throughout the summer, 
or are on their way to more northern localities, there is 
not one that can be con.sidered regular in the lime of 
reaching here, by from twenty to thirty days. 
The amount of variation iu the dates of arrival, year 
after year, of the same species, say of the brown-thrush, 
cat-DiVd, or yellow-breasted chat, is less, however, than 
that of the time of arrival of allied species; for instance, 
the various species of thrushes reach us very irregu- 
larly. The robin {Tardus migrutorius) is a resident 
species; the woodthrush appears (one or two in a neigh- 
borhood from April 15 to May 10; the tawny thrush 
{Tardus fujscescens) sometimes later by two weeks, and 
sometimes absent altogether; the olive-back thrush 
{Tardus Sicaioxoni) passes by irregularly, as tf) both 
time and seasons, and so, too, witn the hermit thrush 
{I'urdus judUud), y;h\ch, however, occasionally remains 
throughout the summer. The ' brown thrush, or 
"thtasher” {IhtrporhyncJius rufas), comes to us by two 
and threes as early as April 26 (the first recorded by me 
this season, 1874, was April 17), and not until !May 3d 
to the 13th can they be considered present in full force. 
The mocking-bird {ilimus p<)hjglottix) is irregular, both 
as to vears and dates, and the cat-bird (Vi/r/- 
limrisis), never missing a year, wauls the early 31 ay 
foliage developed, that he may skulk therein, yet often 
in " single blessedness,” comes to his last year's haunts, 
and is wonderfully ingenious tn his efforts to conceal 
himself in the leafless thickets of early April, keeping 
ever close to the ground, and never venturing upon the 
slightest attempt at a song. 
The many notes we have made with reference to the 
warblers {SyltioAid/f) also indicate a great degree of ir- 
regularity and uncertainty in their migratory move- 
ments. This applies to the-e birds as a family not only, 
but to all of the various species separately, of which a 
score or more pass through the Stale as a general thing. 
Buring certain seasons we have noticed a marked pre- 
ponderance of someone or two warolers, which for sea- 
sons following were much le.ss common than many 
others. Thus, in 1860, 1864, ls(i7 and 1S73, the com- 
mon redstarts (Seiop/uega ruticilUi) were very abundant, 
not only about their natural haunts, but wit'uin the city 
limits, and scores of them could be seen climbing over 
and flitting through the branches of the shade-trees of 
the less-frequented streets. Since 1872 these birds h.ave 
not been so numerous as usual, and far less so than 
many other warblers, such iis the yellow-runiped 
{Dendroka cororuiia), the black-throated blue (71. eura- 
Uscens). or even the chestnut-sided (71. PcunsyltauUu.) 
Unlike the thrushes, the warblers seem to be wholly 
controlled by meteorological influences and sudden 
changes of the weather, which, unlike some birds, they 
seem unable to foretell, greatly influence their move- 
*Tbc o.)?erTatiocs upon which this essay is based were made by 
the author during the past sixteen years, while residing at Trenton, 
Isew Jersey, and the dates of arrival and departure of the various 
birds that we give refer solely to them, as seen in that locality, 
ments, and certainly delay their northward progre-ss; ' 
and yet, while we have frequently known them to bt ' 
Caught in a "northeaster,” they are not otherwise af- 
fected by it, so far as we could determine, other than 
by the delay, before mentioned. Bveii a sudden change 
from warm, summer-like wtather to decided cold did 
mst destroy any of them, apparently, or cheek their 
lively movements among the trees. 
Let us glance at the well-known and noticed swal- 
lows. For five months of erei v year we have with us, ' 
in greater or less abundance, six species of swallows 
and one “swift," the common chimney-swallow. Of 
these, one, the rough-winged {SUlgidoph ryx serripennix) 
is comparatively rare, and kiaiwn only to ornitholo- 
gists; the wlute-bellied (llirundo bicolor) are not partic- 
ularly abundant, except during certain sea on s; the 
cliff-swallow {Pttrocluhdnn luuifrons) is erratic, now- 
here, about the barns and stables of a circumscribed 
neighborhood, for .-ieveral years, and then -wholly fail- 
ing to appear in their former haunts, wln-n spring conies 
slowly up this way, to greet Jlay's sleeping blos-soms. 
Xot so, however, w ith the barn-sw allow (llirundo hor- 
reorum)\ with a variation in date of arrival of about ten 
days, we have come to us, in May, our full comjilement 
of these beautiful birds. They have decreased in num- 
bers during the past thirty years, so observant old far- 
mers have told us, but probably not so much as they 
think. It is more probably the increa.se in the numbers 
of other species that makes the numbers of the barn- 
swallow seem fewer. The bank-sw allow (totyfz ripsiria) 
earliest of all, is here literally by millions, and the 
purple martin (Progne subut), iu moderate numbers, sel- 
dom fails to occupy the boxes placed for its actomino- 
dation; while, lastly, the ch.mney-swallow (Chatura 
pduqica), which really -be. ongs to aiiotherfamily, nearer 
the numming-birds and goat-suckers, we believe, h-a.s 
never failed to appear in about the sniiie numbers, year 
after year. M e have few er lustauci s recorded of single 
swallows, seen at unusually early dates, than ot birds of 
any other family. Some, indeed, arrive much earlier 
than do others, as, for luslanee, the bank-swaliow-; but 
the variation in date of arrival, throughout any ten 
years, is certainly much less than w ith other birds, and 
w ith some of them it is stiriirisingly regu'ar, but nut ab- 
solutely so, as so often asserted. 
Let us now glance at the peculiaritif s of this famity 
of birds, and conqiare them w-iih tiie thru.shes and war- 
blers. One marked difference at once is seen; that is. 
that the swallows have a wonderful flight-power, and 
the thrushes and warblers are weak in their powers of 
of flight, positively as well as comparatively; and our 
observations bear us out in a.sserting, a.s a law of migra- 
tion, that its regularity is in iiroportiou to and solely 
dependent on the flijlit-powers of the species. Witii 
the entire list of inland birds of New Jersev, w e believe 
this to hold good . 
We have alri-a-ly exi'n-sscd our belief that man} 
birds have the ability to forete'l a coming storm. As 
this is not directly connecietl with the subject of our 
essay, as we are now consid<‘rrng it. we w ill pass to 
another feature of this proidietic power, as it appa- 
rently is, iu birds, and that is. their ability to judge of 
the general character, of the coming .«ea-on, by a vi^ii 
of a few days’ duration early in spring. \\ e have so 
frequently noticed that ceriain birds, common to a 
locality during the summer, occ-isionally fails to vi^it 
it, except one or two individuals, that in April come for 
a few- nays, that it l-as ajipeared to its that these “pio- 
neer” birds saw satisfactory reasons for believing tha: 
there would be a sc ircily of food and so return to meet 
their fellow s, and iiifoiminir them, they all dei'arl to 
"fresh fields and pastures new,” je.st as a single crow, 
discovering danger, will turn a whole colony Iroiii their 
course as they are go:n.r to their ro.-^tiiig idace. Thi.«, 
be it understood, is our sujiposition. and luav be w-holh 
untrue; but how are we really to interpret liie meaning 
of any habit or particular movement of a liird, except 
by the human siaiid.-iril? An act on tin- iiari of a bird 
is intelligible to us only as w e would iiilei|iret a corres- 
ponding act in man; and these acts in Imds and men, 
producing allied results, indicate that close connei-tion 
between all anim-al life which is so readily comp'-e- 
hendeJ from an evolution standpoint. Xow, as an in- 
stance of this “foretelling” i.-ower in birds, we noted . 
during the past,spring, the arriv.al of the first c-hewink 
KPipSio erytlu opftt/odiuux) on April 27th. Busily among 
the dried leaves and tangled briers it hopped, enlivetT- 
iiigtbe thicket w ith its constant song just as a dozen of 
its kind had done throughout the preceding summer. 
1b a few days it had xlisap|ieared, and not a chewink 
ha.s been sc^n or lieard for nearly six months. .Vow a 
few are noticed on their w.-iy south from the country 
north of U'. T:iis locality is one where these birds 
usually congregate, and we have oft'-n fouml a dozen 
nests iu the limits of the sjiol. But a few- miles away, 
these birds were :us abundant as U'Ual. In two ways 
we can explain ilie ab.seiice of these birds; either those 
that -.vere accustomed to occupy it went to a new lo- 
cality, and the single bird ihat had pr ceded them, 
finding his conqiaiiioiis did not come l-jft, rather than 
remain alone; or he left to announc e th-it tood would 
be scarce, for it iiiusl be remembered, as Darwin has 
[to be COXTIN'UF.U.l 
THE SAL.HOA (Salmo Salar.) 
The salmon may be well called “royal,” the king of 
all fish, affording the noblest sport on river and in estu- 
ary; the choictist dainty of the table. Foets have cele- 
brated him in veisc, anglers have extolled him as the 
grandefet cajitive of rod and line, They are clad to 
I travel for hundreds of miles, sparing no expense, to 
r lach the borders of majestic rivers, where the salmon 
skims over the deeps, and splashes, m all his spangled 
beauty, in the boiling tide.s, and at the foot of the tum- 
bling w-aterfall All who speak and write of him, do 
so in enthusiastic terms, dropping the sobriety of plain 
prose, and al.most blossoming into verse. Hallock says: 
“Surely it is the leap that designates the salmon. 
Therefore let us accord to him and all his royal family 
that heraldic device and motto that justly belong to 
their noble line, and which have ever been recognized 
where nature has held her court — Salmo the Icaper!” 
As to the best places for the sport, Scott says “I 
should give a preference to Canadian sifimon waters 
over these across the Atlantic, even were the fishings 
offered at the same price; but in the matter of expense, 
Canada is much the most economical for our anglers. 
The fish are much larger on this side on an average, 
the scenery is more majestic, the rivers more grand. 
Ap application to line the fluvial or angling part of a 
salmon river from the Dominion of Canada must be for 
the term of nine years, and the prices must advance, as 
anglers multiply.” It is not possible to deny our admi- 
ration of the size and general character of this noble 
fi>h. To the lover of good eating he is alwrays welcome, 
and the best anglers seek to take him as most worthy of 
their steel. lie may w ell then be called the king of 
river fish, when we consider his beauty, his prowess, or 
his valuable economic qualities. Their food seems to 
be various. At sea they are taken with small fish and 
s:tnd-eels within them, anil these are known to be fa- 
vorite food xvith them. Their occasional voracity in 
taking worms, and their partiality for living minnows 
and other live fish is notorious, and forms the ground 
of the angler's practice under w ater, as that of fly-fish- 
ing above proves not only that they are predacious in 
the extreme, but that they also, like the other members 
of the family, seek a variety of food in winged insects. 
The circumstances of their being, like herrings, seldom 
found with anything in their stomachs but mucus, may 
arise from a capacity of very qut: k digestion. Food, 
very often the flesh of the sea-trout, is found in a mac- 
erate! state in the stomachs of salmon caught in the 
nets of tidal rivers. Herrings have been taken in their 
mouths before they had lime to s-vallow them . The 
truth is-, salmon while at sea feed voraciously and di- 
gest rapidly, and hence their wonderful grow th. It is 
the habit of salmon to migrate annually to the sea, for 
the purpose of obtaining necessary food, having ob- 
tained a sufficiency of w Inch, they return to their na- 
tive rivers, in which their spawn matures, and in which 
it is deposited, impregnated, and incubated. 
The earnest exertions of the pisciculturists of this 
country will restore, it is to be hoped, the salmon and 
other fish to the depleteil and forsaken streams. We 
are grateful for the good work of such men a.s Seth 
(freen; Dr. Baird, Dr. Slack, the fish commis-ioners of 
various Stales, in seeking to restore to the angler and to 
the people, the food fishes that belong to our waters. 
The increased catch of the fish and the introduction of 
frozen salmon and other fish into the market, in such 
have bounht a fish that delights the wealthy epicure 
within reach of t: c poor man's pocket. 
Tlie Ostrich. 
The greatest feat of an Arab hunter is to capture an 
ostrich. It is the largest of living birds, and probably 
the swiftest of all running animals. Being very shy 
and cautious, and living on the sandy plains, where 
there is little chance to take it by surprise, it can only 
be captured by a well-planned and long-continued pui- 
suit with the sw iftest horse. The os rich has two curi- 
ous habits in running wlien alarmed, it alw-nys starts 
.•If with outspread wings, against the wind, so Ihat it 
can scent the approach of an enemy. I's sense of smell 
is so keen th-at it can detect a person at a great distance, 
— long before one c-m be seen. The other curious habit 
is that of running in a circle. Usually five or six os- 
triches are found in a coiuptiiy. When discovered, 
part of the hunters, mounted on fleet horses, will pur- 
sue the birds, w hile the other hunters w ill gallop aw ay 
a' right angles to the course the ostriches have taken. 
When tho.-e hunters think they have gone far enough to 
cross the path the birds will be likely to take, they 
watch upon some rise of ground for their approach. If 
the hunters hit the right phice, and see os- riches, they 
at once start in pursuit, with fresh horses, and some- 
times overtake cue or two of the birds, but often two or 
three of the horses fall, completely tired out w ith so 
shai-|i a chase. (.Sec Job x.xxix, !;<). M'heu taken, the 
ostiii-h may defend it.self by kicking out sideways, and 
IS able to give quite a dangerous blow to anyone w ithin 
its reach.” Dr, Livingstone found that it couid run at 
the astonishiag speed of iweuiy-six miles an hour. 
