Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-09-07
225 .llEs IN HOUR.
The virginia Plov-r Makes More Tnan
Three diles a Minute.

The Virginia Pl0v-r Makes More Tnan
Three diles a Minute.
The distance covered by birds in
2 days travel is matter OF great
interest, but it has not been studied
as it ought to be. We know, howe7-
er. in general way, that under IA
voring circumstances geese and
ducks cover from 300 miles up to
sI0 in day Of q hours. The hard
working insect eaters that trare! by
day probably average five or six
miles. The gorgeous Baltimore orl-
ole, being easily traced BY both plum
age and voice, has been noted al
the way from Rodney, Miss, to Oak
Point, Manitoba, distance Of l,29o
miles, and he covered ii in IS days,
q speed Of u miles per day. a lot
Of other birds were Jumped together
and an average Of % miles day OBJ
tanned. But the Observers were
few. And then it may be that the
birds hcw 100 miles in night and
then rested for three days thercaft-
or. They averaged so many miles Il
day, but what was their actual speed
a-wing? Gatke, a German observer,
who has devoted 50 years to the
study OF birds in migration on the
little island called Heligoland, con
Guides that the Virginia plover trav
els 225 miles per hour. and that the
average altitude Of migrants in fine
weather Is at least 10, 600 feet. viii
We ever learn about these things
definitely?
That the time Of bird ; arrival
in the spring varies with the weath-
or is known TO all, but to this rule
there are some marvellous excep-
tons. On May IS, 1857, a Wilson's
blackcap warbler was seen in a Ger
tain bush by an observer, who took
especial note Of the fact because it
was new bird TO him and for other
reasons. II was seen at l 80 p. IN. A
year later the observer happened to
remem Der the fact and went to the
shrubbery TO zee if by chance
blackcap had arrived and found one
in the same bush at the same hour
And this thing happened again the
third year 1t doubtless just hap
pened SO, and yet the birds that
start north late in the season, as
the blackcap does, move with much
greater regularity than the early
travellers do.
That individuals remain behind
while the main hosts Of tribe mi
CRATE is very we'll known. 1t is
worth while noting, because it en-
phasizes the assertion that eccentric
people are found among birds as
among men. And some travel far
from accustomed haunts. The
Swanson S hawk from the Rocky
mountains has been found IN the
Adirondacks and the horned lark Of
the plains il Massachusetts,. ! should
not be astonished to find an idaho
magpie lowering around the capitol
at Washington.
The reason why birds migrate has
not been considered here, but the
allotted space is already full. Many
reasons are offered, Of which the
chief is ho1nesickness, q longing for
the old birthplace, bat none is en-
tirely satisfactory. Perhaps one
must 20 back to the old days when
palm trees grew in Siberia and mon
keys ran wild on the Cape Horn
archipelago to find the reason 1t is
a matter still under investigation,
and it is, as was said, in the hope
that some may be melted to join IN
tho investigation that this and other
wonders and mysteries Of bird life
have been relatcd-Chautauquan.