RANGE AND MIGRATIONS. 23 
in a gale of wind, till night fortunately overtook the weary 
birds and their pursuers. The parties drove back to the 
house one after the other, and spread out the contents of 
their “bags” upon the floor—two hundred and eighty-one 
golden plover and Esquemaux curlew together with a few 
beetle-heads ! It was a grand sight! Of course there was 
some pretty tall talking done on that memorable night. We 
would not vouch for the truth of all the stories that were 
told. A slight deviation, a little—just a little—exaggeration 
upon such an occasion is pardonable. There was about as 
little sleeping done in that house that night, as was ever done 
in a house of its size. Well, teams had been ordered for the 
next day (Sept. 5th.,) with every prospect of favorable re¬ 
sults, when, lo! the wind had shifted to the northwest! It 
was a cool, crisp, bracing morning, and scarcely a bird to be 
seen anywhere. This little narrative will show how de¬ 
pendent we are at this point upon an easterly storm for 
golden plover and curlew-shooting. It so happens that for 
years there will not to be at the proper time a storm 
sufficient to throw the birds on to the land, and of course 
there will be no shooting during these years. In this in¬ 
stance, had the birds not been on the wing to the east¬ 
ward of Cape Cod, they would not have been blown on to 
the land by a wind from that quarter. A change 
during the night enabled them to escape “ westlin winds 
and slaughtering guns,” nor did they wait for daylight or 
lunch. On departing they take a southeasterly course 
evidently to get back on to their line of travel as soon as 
possible. A “flight” of birds is liable to occur anywhere up 1 
and down the coast during the migrating season, when the 
wind and other conditions are favorable. Mr. S., afterward, 
“His Honor, the Mayor” of Portland, writes October, 1878 : 
“ There was the most immense flight of golden plover and 
Esquimaux curlew on a Sunday, the last of August, I ever 
knew on the coast, during a sudden storm, but a northwester 
following closely, they all disappeared.” The same stories 
are told at Currituck Sound and other points along the coast. 
If then the line of flight of these birds is due south from 
