The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-05-11

ing over the 1898 miles between the two
stations, which gives an average speed OF
p miles day.
FASTENING THEIR FLIGHT.
The records Of fifty-eight species for the
sp ing OF 1888 give an average speed of
twenty three miles day for an average of
400 miles stud of the records Tor 1888
led to Z he statement that in spring birds
migrate more rapidly in t Q northern por-
II Of their routes of travel than in the
southern. In the spring Of 1884 twenty-five
spec es of well-kuown birds, concerning
which we had full records, were Sc .ecte
for careful study. The result bea : out the
foregoing statement. The dis.a &c Travelled
was divided as nearly as possible in two
equal portions, and the speed was calculated
for each. Some Of e records do not adj
nit of division; tiers show an equal
speed throughout, while six show an in-
crease Of e per cent. i'll speed for the
northern half. and three show a decrease OF
~ per cent. Thus it will be seen that the
record is strongly in favor of the increase
T same result NAV be reached by cal
culating the average speed of ,hese twenty
five species separately for each of the diff
ferent months in which migration Is per
formed; the average speed TO- March is 10
miles, for April 23 miles, and for May 20
miles per day. The record for 1854 also
confirms the statement t at the later bird
migrates the higher average speed it viii
attain.
In all probability the same bird seldom
migrates for several nights in succession.
but stops t. rest after flight of a night or
two so that the birds migrating one night
are not the same individuals that were
moving the night before.
THE RELATIVE SPEED
In regard to the relative speed at which
the different species travel, all that can be
said at present is that those which migrate
later have, as rIle, the highest rate.
Thus, the average speed of the robin, cow
bird and golden-5 aftei flicker is about II
miles da :, while the average of the sum
mer red bri, Baltl more :)riole, ruby
tnroated hummer aud night-hawk is IS
miles. If try to calculate the relative
speed of the different families, we find
That some of the species in
family migrate early and slowly,
others late and rapidly, bringing
he average of most of the families
very close to the general average OF all,
winch, as already stated, is twentv-t res
miles day. Birds have seldom been seen
while on their way in uIdisturbad migra-
ton at night. 1t is known that birds do
move rapidly, as a rule, when migrating
In the daytime, but from the IN aver ma
terial at hand it may bs inferred that the
speed az night is considerably greater.
lad birds rarely fly faster than
fifteen miles al hour, though te
larger birds, such as cranes, geese, ducks
etc, move much more RAPIDLY. At Rcd
Rock, Indian territ ry, between Aug. 25
and Sept. 5, 1884, the cliff swallows and
night lawks wee cons leu )us every
m }rning aud evening slo Wy drifting
migration. F an hour and a half parties
birds would pass BY in almost IN
brokel succession. Many hundred night
hawks were sen during a single evening,
and the number of swallows was much
greater The result of timing them on
several occasions gave rate f about ten
to 70 rteea miles an hour, the 70 mer being
he noe usual speed, This $40 rate as
eau ed by the rregularity of tins e ght, as
the bi ds captured the evening and morn
ing meals on The wing. This morning
flight la Ted Al hour only, and was made at
about the same speed Thu, distance Of
about thirty miles would be trave ed BY
each individual during the m ,rning and
evening together, bu5 no one ca say h
much farther, if any, they Travelled during
the night
THE HOST OF wARBLERs.
The material gathered from the keeper.
OF Iglt houses seems t. indicate thai
neither swallows nor nightiagalss MGR lte
to auy extent after nizh-fall. III advance
of the hosts of warblers, as they move IL
forward from tree top to tree
top. is still slower, probably being but
a few miles during a whole day Gee e
in their Il rtn ward fight along the At
Ia tic coast traverse great distances, some
times covering from 800 t. 800 miles at a
single f ght, AID it cannot be said posi-
lively that the larger birds do not do the
; lme over the land Still, the records
far "a ale see n t. indca that the smaller
land birds, such as warblers, hnches and
the ike, do not perform long J ,uraey3 at
one time when over Ia Id, but their v0ya yes
over he Gulf of Mexico prove that even
these small species possess great power of