Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-05-06
Migrating Birds-A Fresh Bit of Nat
uTaI History.
From the Hartford Times

How do these robins, and the swal-
lows, and other migrating birds, con-
trive to make, unobserved, their long
Journey north and south? Who sees
them arrive? Who has ever seen them
depart?
They have time to come, and a time
to depart; and they move altogether
We find them with us, some bright and
cherry morning in the latter half of
March, or early in April. We may feel
sure they were not here the proceeding
morning. When did they come? Who
saw them arrive?
A friend who has carefully studied
this problem, gives his slow but decid-
ed conclusion. It is this: Our migrat-
ing birds chiefly come and go IN the
night.
His observation has led him also to
the belief that this annual migration,
north and south, is due less to elm
stinct" than to instruction, and sort
of tradition, actually impaired to a
host Of young birds by the older ones.
He has reached the conclusion that the
young ones, born and brought up here
III the north, would not know by instinct,
that long and dreadful season Of
deadly cold, with drifting SHOWS, and
fearful storms, was coming, from
which all sensible birds must fee, and
seek iii more genial ATTITUDES their
winter home. In proof of this he cites
the case of those robins which remain
with us over winter. These, he says
are invariably young robins, Matched
the preceding June-never old ones
who had been here before the previous
winter This can be ascertained chiefly
by their size, but partly by other in
| dlcatlons and appearances, such as
every vagrant country school-boy
is familiar with. To confirm his view
our friend points to the large gather
ings of young birds in latter September,
or early October, evidently brought
together by the old ones, who fly along
the whole line, eagerly chattering some
thing to which the youngsters evidently
listen, and which this observer believes
| to be q warning not to widely part
company with the older ones, bnt to be
on hand and keep them company, when,
at time near at hand, they must all
leave for a southern cline. Some
young birds, our philosopher says,
either do not heed this wise warming,
or miss the great company when they
start-which is always, he says, in the
night One finds these unlucky
stragglers, hiding as best they may,
among the sheltering thickets in
January and February-maintain q
precarious and doubtless suffering
existence by eating the ceder-berries
These unhappy stragglers, left behind to
endure the rlgors of a northern winter,
did not heed the Evolutionary warming
which is preserved by the older birds,
and handed down from generation tc
generation.
Such is our observers theory; and
we find something that does not look
like support of it, in the conduct of the
swallows. We have often watched, in
the country, these similar and most
graceful birds, when, about the first
week IN September, they are gathered
in crowds of hundreds on hundreds,
completely covering the fence tops for
long distances. Huddled close togeth-
er, they present curious sight; and
the entire crowd of sitting and station
airy birds are plainly enough the young
swallows. Along the entire line the
older birds are flying eagerly, closely
approaching the younger crowd and
twittering vociferously. This spectacle
is best exhibited at the sea shore
Along the outermost fences of the
farms bordering Long Island Sound
these closely packed congregations of
young swallows are often astonishing in
| -. Sc l.
about the first of September. The
lesson-if it is lessons repeated
day after day, the old birds seeming to
be very earnest and anxious about it.
However this part of our friend s
theory may be regarded, proofs of the
fact that migration of birds is perform
ed in the night chiefly, is sufficiently
abundant, we think, to settle that
point.
The wild geese-whose advanced
squadrons are already passing north
ward over Connecticut their
long flight alike in the darkness and
the daylight. So, possibly, the
other, smaller birds, and these may
escape observation because of their
smallness. That they do, however, fly
in the night is abundantly proved by
the revelation of the astronomers teles-
copes, as we'll as the slaughter occasion
ed by the birds dashing heedlessly
against the lanterns of the light houses
on the coast.
Astronomer Mitchell (now diseased
speaks of seeing birds cross the field Of
his glass, when this was directed to the
moon, in the dead hour of night. We
have conversed with other astronomers
who affirm that in September and
October, Judging from the number
which cross the field of their telescopes,
the whole air seems to be literally fill
ed with birds flying southwark at night;
and again in April the same phenomena
reappears, the only difference being
that the direction of flight is reversed.
The lighthouses bear the same testi-
mony Mrs. Thaxter, in her charming
book of life on the Isles of Shoals, says:
"Sometimes in autumn, always in
spring, when birds are migrating, they
are destroyed in such quantities by this
m cams that If is nainf11l To reflect 17nOD