Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-09-30
FLIGHT OF THE BIRDS.
How the Weak Ones Travel to
Mariner Climates.

Warmer Climates.
From the New York Tribune.
AS the cold days and chilly nights Of
or country may detect the presence of
many strange birds. Birds w hose summer
home may be in Labrador and whose win
ter may be spent in South America are
often seen flying through the i.ir in groups
or resting on tall treetops for short spell,
as If to catch their breath and gain some
idea of their surroundings. all of them on
their way south for the winters stay.
No time in all the year is IS interesting
to the bird lover as the season of migration,
for at no other time can such numbers of
feathered friends be seen. Birds, as a rule,
travel in search of food, SO those who sub
sist on fruit follow it from section to sec
tion and those kinds which are noticed first
in the springtime are often the last to re-
turn in September on their way back to the
south. The insect-eatlng and seed-devour-
ing birds, like the others. follow their food
from north to south. After August has
passed and the birds have molted and the
young are all able to fly, the flocks begin
to turn their way toward the winter home,
and September sees many groups of them
winging their way swiftly through the air,
for some take long journeys.
Many birds that pass their summer in the
Mississippi valley will go no further than
Mexico for the cold weather; others will
settle in Central or South America while
among those to travel the furthest is the
snipe, many of them building their nests
and rearing their young In the arctic circle
and spending the winter on the shores of
far-off Patagonia, taking the entire length
Of the western hemisphere once each six
months. la
Although the spring migration of some of
the late corners is but little more than over
Il
southern fight, the tree swallows going
south early July, 1t is during Septem-
Der, from the 10th to the 25th that birds
in great number are seen in and around
New York and when they have all passed
the birds in the neighborhood number a few
winter visitors and the permanent resi-
dents, with an occasional flock of spar
rows, bobolinks hermit thrush, who stay
north late.
The great regularity with which the yari-
Gus birds come and go adds to the pleasure
Of watching for them, At almost the same
time each year one may expect to see the
same visitors. for rarely do they differ from
their time by even few days.
There are many curious and instructive
things about this departure of the BIRDS
There seems to be reason in 1t all, for the
old birds lead the way. as If to show the
young ones how to go. Many fly by night,
while others travel in the daytime, and
| some both day and night. This interesting
fact was first ascertained by Mr.. Brewster
who. in paper on the migration of birds,
| says that the timid and feeble-winged birds
travel at night. one reason being that they
are unable to journey day after day with
out stopping for food. and SO losing time,
hence they fly at night and rest and feed
| in the daytime, while the strong winged
| birds, that can go great distances with
| little fatigue, will fly by day, getting food
as they go.
River valleys. coast lines and mountain
chains are the ways followed by the mi
grating birds, and frequent observations
have determined the fact that the birds
| travel at great heights, many as much as
. mile from the earth. This may be one