The Portland daily press., 1894-10-23
THE EMIGRATION OF BIRDS.
Facts Learned by Observations Made
at Lighthouses.

Shown by the Bodies of Those that
Dash Themselves to Death-The Vic
Tins Chiefly Song Birds-The Total An
nual Mortality Put as High as 100000.
If your scientific attachments do not hap
pen to run along pathological lines, you
have probably never been puzzled by the
question involved in avian season nights.
That is to say, you have held to your BOY
hoods simple conclusion that birds migrate
because they think they would enjoy a
change of scene, food. and climate. and
let it go at that. But the highly scientific
ornithologists won't let it go at that. or at
anything else, for that matter. They keep
talking and writing away in the most indus
trIous and puzzled manner. They ask not
only why the birds migrate, but also how
they happen to know enough to get where
thsy want to go to, and they charge the
birds by inference with not knowing enough
to go in out of the rain, almost.
The construction of unusually tall and
brilliant lighthouses and of great obervato-
ries has been tremendous boon to the bird
flight students, because it has given them
great additional facilities for their studies,
and has resulted In furnishing a record of
the composition of the migrating focks.
This record has been made in a very tragic
manner, and consists of the list of dead
and wounded birds that have dashed their
heads against lighthouses and observatories.
1t sometimes happens in the matter of
scientific discussion that the more facilities
which are offered to explain the points at
issue the more those points diverge in the
purely scientific minds. Since the migrat
ing birds have killed themselves by dashing
against LibeIty's torch on Bedlow's Island
at the record rate OF more than thousand
night. one enthusiastic student has writ
ten big book entitled IAN Attempt to
Reduce Avian Season Flights to Law"
The British Association for the Advance
menu of Science has formed committee to
collect data on the subject gained from
lighthouses and observatories by methods
which are copied in most details from those
pursued by our own Agricultural Depart
ment at Washington in collecting similar
information from Bellows Island. That
Department supplies the Statue oe liberty
light keepers with blanks for monthly re-
ports concerning the killed and wounded
birds, and with envelopes for specimens.
The details to be included in the reports
were the names of the different varieties of
birds killed and wounded. the date of the
killing, with the hour when it was known,
the direction and force of the wind at the
time, the character of the weather. and any
other information that might aid ornitholo-
gists in making up their minds scientifcal-
ly why birds did not STAY in one Mace all
the time instead OF going to some other
pace.
A study OF these reports, together with
great many others furnished by other light
house keepers to scientific societies, shows
That oirds select Tor ocean passages the
same kind OF weather that two human be-
1ngs OF opposing sex would prefer for an
evening sail on the ocean or on Central
Park lake. ana that IS clear starry, and
moonlight nights. This seems SO simple
ana reasonable selection, from the merely
human point OF VieW' lhat one Is really
quite surprised TO learn the amount OF In
terest IL excited among the scientific. The
reports iurther snow tnat the olrus pursue
their migration IN greatest number when
they nave a heaa wiho OF a VIVA apart Inc
oeain, anu Ia sma!lest NUMBER when they
"oulo nave the "lnu WIN them. what TO
yaonI wouio Dc Iavoraple wlno' rumes
d piro leathefs anu tires MN.
oeioie Ihey pegah taxing observations at
Dig lighthouses Shere was also long list
OF oiros that were supposed not 10 migrate
out ene Hsntnouse ooser Vations nave re-
uuceo TINS nss very greatly. Inc reports
from Deolow lsiano snow that. Just as all
other roaos ieao TO ne" YORK, SO 40 the Two
prihclpai pains Ioiio"eo py migrating plrds
IN thls part OF the word at least converge
mere. one OF these pains is followed by
the new England olrds (Which travel west
aiohg Long island oouno, ana the other Is
the pain pursued py the Canadian and New
YORK olros' Whlcn travel south along the