Omaha daily bee., 1896-07-19

tional Misrepresentation and much mis-
leading Information. While l acknowledge
they lay the groundwork for all our knowl-
edge OF the bird family. and have been in
strumental in great good. the veriest tyro
In the lore Of our fields and woods today
would laugh at some OF the descriptions OF
the habits and characteristics OF the birds
those learned scientists attempted to handle
without adequate acquaintance with them.
Twenty-Five years ago certain know-it-alls in
the east would have bet you to a standstill
that such a bird as the canvasback duck
never visited the waters OF the
western states. let alone such an inland
district as our own glorious Nebraska. The
absurdity Of such claims has become only
too apparent in these enlightened modern
days.
Birds In the classic times were the prin-
cipal vehicles Of all sorts Of a%uguries and
mystic divinations, signs of coming fate or
fortune were interpreted from their flight
and future events foretold by the sound of
their calls by day and night, and, as silly
as all these things strike us now, many
continue to believe in the Omens of the
birds. The blue birds cry after dark was
a |forerunner of all kinds OF unhappy things
for the hearer, but the nocturnal wbistlings
OF the upland plover were most surely the
ayant couriers OF good cheer, bountiful
crops and, OF course. happiness. The cav
OF the crow was an admonition to be on the
bbhpul lVl oVlitt VIZ ntNNth htNAllAltlNs anu
FOR that matter holds good today. OF all
the feathercd buffoons of wood or field there
is none greater than old Jim Crow. The
maybe aud the bluesay are his fitting running
mates, but their capacity for injurious mis-
chief Is not nearly so The sweet
but homely song Of the robin is supposed to
ward off evil spirits, while the carlton Of
the oriole is a safeguard against any and all
kinds OF untoward happenings.
And yet all these vagaries have nothing
to do with the migration of birds, and the
grand and general movement of today Is
just as much of a perpleNity as 1t was 100
years ago. jeremiah. the prophet, once
remarked: THE stork in heaven knoweth
her appointed times, and the turtle and
the crane and the swallow observe the time
Of their coming" What is it which warns
the birds in propitious weather that it is
time for them to be up and of? What is 1t
that deters them in their flight and keeps
them in certain localities through dis
astrous meteorological conditions, only to
time their departure a few days or weeks
after? What is 1t that lures the wild fowl
to the remote Businesses Of the frozen north
to prosecute their work of multiplication
when it Is a well known fact that niditica-
ton and incubation would be assisted and
furthered hundreds of miles south? Why
do the birds leave certain perennial favor
able ciimcs at given times and brave the
dangers of a long journey, for a ~sojourn
under conditions not half as auspicious as
those they leave? Why do they go
just when the weather blows the fairest and
in the midst of the harvest wherein they
should %fatten, for worse things thousands
Of miles away? These are pretty knOtty
problems indeed and the flight of the bird
itself is no greater mystery than its
migration.
Many people think the hordes of birds we
have with us this summer are the same
that. will a tt,r r,nyt Jlnf thnv p MT
only in rare instances. Even myriads of the
little songsters who gladden. our sight and
hearing in the early months of summer are
replaced by others during the waning
months and in autumn. Modern research
shows, that in the majority, it is new birds
which greet us regularly spring and fall.
To be sure, most all Of our most familiar
birds leave and return with unerTing regu-
larity. And often we see the same martins,
the same swallows and the same robins.
But there is no assurance that the bird
which haunts your door yard this summer
will be a tenant OF the same quarters next.
He may go on miles beyond you, 81 stop
miles away before he gets to you. or not
come in your direction at all. Why is 1t
that some of the robins, and some of the
jays, and waXwings and other delicate speCi-
mems of the feathored tribe do not leave
us at all, spring or fall, but remain here
throughout the winter, be the weather in
tensely cold during the four fiigid months,
or mild and tolerable as our open winters
are? 1t seems to make no difference to
these laggards. They stay and survive, too.
AS far north as is Nebraska even, | have
flushed robins time and time again, while
quail hunting in late December. and have
seen meadow larkB and iaybiTds during
every month of the year. How Is this IT.
regularity to be accounted for? Surely one
bird of a species is no more hardy than
the rest of its kind. One can no more easily
subsist here than another. Then why not
all remain, or all go away?
Surely this problem of migration is an
interesting one. A large mass Of birds
leave us as early as the middle of August,
such as the orioles, swallows, irdigos, vieros
and others. Are they driven away by a lack
Of food? No. Is it because the weather
has been tinged with frost? No. Then
what is it? Surely the plOyers and sand
pipers, who come in great numbers at this
time, find plenty to eat, and suffer nothing
from Indictment weather. Who can explain
the motive for this answering bi-annual
movement?
Migratory birds, as we know them here.
are classed into two groups. First comes
those which arrive in early spring, breed
here and return south in the fall; second,
those who come in the autumn, remain
until cold weather, then depart for sum-
mer climes. Another group, | might say,
are tlOSe VIC leildlu Will is TIE ytul
round. We may begin with the established
fact that the general movement is north
ward in the vernal season and southwark
when Jack Frost begins to approach. In
some varieties the mean center of migra-
ton is the latitude in which we reside, and
| consequently we only meet with the last
lines of the main body, which stop to the
south of US. In wild fowl we find the most
interesting study. They all push to the
northmost limits of their migration to breed
Notwithstanding the belief of some that
the mallard and the canvasback and the
jacksnipe breed here among the sloughs of
Nebraska, To be sure they do. but it is
only in rare instances, and from necessity
instead Of choice. Wounded birds are COM
! PEELED to remain here in large numbers,
That ought to be explanation enough. Taken
in conjunction with the irreyocable fact
that birds return here annually to the same
breeding grounds, the phenomenon of uni
yersal n%orthward migration just prior to
the season of qualification brings about
some curious speculation, and in this con-
nection a well known English authority
says that in support of this theory it has
been interpreted that the polar regions are
the true cradle OF life; that it was there
that the crust OF the earth first cooled down
sufficiently to permit the existence of yege-