94 
BY THE WAYSIDE. 
past seven she grabbed one of the kittens and 
dragged it out, spitting and scratching like 
wild. That encouraged us and she went at it 
again and soon caught another, but it was nine 
o’clock before she had the third and last. 
Even then Pit-a-pat would not have anything 
to do with them and we had to feed them with 
warm milk on the ends of our fingers. Two of 
them were sweet, gentle little things, not a bit 
afraid, but the other was a perfect savage, 
which shows, I think, that some children are 
born good and some are born naughty, so how 
can they help it? And wasn t Pit-a-pat a 
goose? T. 8. 
Bird Migration. 
The migration of birds at certain seasons 
of the year has excited the notice and the 
wonder of mankind for ages. 
Their “rushes” have often been witnessed on 
a truly magnificent scale. Herr Gatke thus 
describes such a flight witnessed on Heligo¬ 
land: “The whole sky is filled with a babel 
of hundreds of thousands of voices, and as we 
approach the lighthouse there presents itself 
to the eye a scene which more than confirms 
the experience of the ear. Under the intense 
glare of the light, swarms of larks, starlings, 
and thrushes career around in ever-varying 
density, like showers of brilliant sparks or 
large snowflakes driven onwards by a gale, and 
continuously replaced as they disappear by 
freshly arriving multitudes. Mingled with 
these birds are large numbers of golden plovers, 
lapwings, curlews, and sandpipers.” During 
such a rush no less than fifteen thousand larks 
were captured in three hours on Heligoland. 
It is impossible to estimate the numbers of 
birds that are seen on such occasions, while 
of the multitudes that never come into view at 
all we can have no conception. At all times 
of the year migration is usually carried on in 
the hours of darkness, and at such a height 
that we can see but little of it. The best 
evidence as to the actual height at which 
migrating birds fly has been furnished by the 
ingenuity of two American observers, Messrs. 
W. E. D. Scott and F. M. Chapman, who have 
both made observations through astronomical 
telescopes of birds flying across the face of the 
moon. By careful computations Mr. Chap 
man reckoned that the highest of the birds he 
saw were at an elevation of fifteen thousand ' 
one hundred feet, or nearly three miles. So 
clear a view of some did he obtain that he was 
able to recognize several Carolina rails and a 
snipe by their flight. 
Far to the south, in the spring, I had often 
seen birds which I knew only bred far to the 
north; but, as these were all birds of strong 
flight, their long journeys did not seem very I 
remarkable. However, in the year 1900, on the 
White Nile, many miles south of Khartoum, 
I saw a red-throated pipit—a delicate little j 
bird, smaller than a lark, a feeble flyer, and, 
as far ais I could see, quite alone. A year be 
fore I had found the nests of the same species 
north of the Arctic Circle, and I knew that the 
bird had never been known to breed many miles { 
south of the land of the midnight sun. Here, ; 
then, was subject for thought; and the more 
I thought about it and recollected my own 
journeys to and from the same points, the more 
I wondered at the bird’s extraordinary power. 
— Chamber’s Journal. 
From a Window. 
We have had very interesting times all win¬ 
ter with our Lady Downy Woodpecker, a' pair 
of hairy woodpeckers which are rather rare 
here-abouts—and chickadees—all feasting daily 
on the suet nailed to our apple tree. 
When these birds are absent there are, on 
stormy days, from three to eight English spar¬ 
rows hovering like humming birds, hanging by 
claws and braced by tails like woodpeckers or 
lighted on the suet eating as though the feast 
were spread for their sole benefit. 
Yesterday, March 30th, I heard the sweet-! 
est song in our garden, but could not see 
the singer—it was a sparrow—probably the: 
tree or winter chippy. I also saw from our 
porch, robins, one crow, gulls, and the. usual 
hairy woodpecker—female. The male has not 
been about for some time and I fear some ig¬ 
norant boy has killed him, not knowing he. hat 
come to help save our trees from the insect s 
etrjrs and larva, so soon to awaken and bring 
destruction to our spring and summer foliage 
A. C. W. 
