The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-12
BIRDS AUTUMN MIGRATION
DIFFICULTIES or FIELD STUDY -iT
 THIS TIME OYER THE SPRING.
The Mothor Goose of tMe Butcher Bird
 VaCtties Seen.

Everyone has seen the wild geese fly
 ing high in air in a straight unbroken
 V, going north ill March and April or
 returning in October Sportsmen, at
 least, are keenly alive to the southWard
 Journey of duck and snipe and blower,
 but the bird-loV is more concerned
 with the returning hosts of finches and
 thrushes, or vireos and warblers There
 are birds passing through here every
 spring and fall which nest north Of the
 Arctic circle and spend the winter as
 far south as the Argentine Republic,
 For countless generations they and
 their ancestors have made this trip
 yearly, arriving at their destination at
 either end of the route with the pune
 tuality of the fast mail. Some of them
 stay in their summer homes only long
 enough to rear their single brood ot
 young and then start southWard
 Others remain until driven south by
 lack of food. Already we have with us
 of migrating warblers the golden
 winged, the chestnut-sided, the black
 throated green, the magnolia, the
 Blackburnan, the Wilson's, the Cana
 dian, the blach-throated blue, and the
 parula. Of these an occacsional pair
 of of the first three nest in this vicinity,
 but most of them have chosen more
 northerly residence.
 The field study of birds at the time Of
 the autumnal migrations is more diff
 cult than in the spring because the
 plumage of the young is frequently
 very different from that of the mature
 bird The chestnut sided warbler of
 one summer is not readily recognized,
 since it not only lacks the bright vel low crown and the distinctive chestnut stripe down the sides, but it's whole back is quite different from that of it's parents. The immature magnolia warb- Ter is not at all the shOWily colored creature of the spring migrations, but may always be recognized by it's tail, which is white with broad borders of black. The young Canadian and gol- den- winged warblers are much like their fathers and mothers. Of the others mentioned, both sexes of young closely resemble the adult females The black-poll and the bay-breasted Warb- Ter are also returning now, but while the mature birds are very unlike, the young, strangely enough, are so simi- lar as to puzzle even the practiced ornithologist.
 Most of the birds so far named, which are among the first to move toward the tropics in the fall, were among the latest to arrive from the south in the spring The warblers are the ultra fashiona blee of bird society. NO sooner is their a chill in the air, a breath of something coming after Au- gust sunshine, than these children of the world start southward, not to re- turn until all traces of snow have van ished' The leisurely blue-winged warbers, which have been with Us since May have alredy started for the tropics. The Worm-eating warbler, whose note the careless ear so readily confuses with that of the chippy, goes at the same time, as unnoticed as it came.
 Some of the yellow warblers doubt less reared their young beyond the Arctic circle; others, not so sturdy travellers, have nestled about here, but the last of them will soon have left us, many of them going as far as northern South America. The gorgeous Balti- fore ariole, with his plainly attired wife and children, the clownish vel low breasted chat and the olive backed thrush move at about the same time as the yellow warbler The tink ling call notes of the thrush may often be heard at night as their f1ocks pass southward. ThruShes and Warbers, as we'll as most other denizens of woods l and copses, migrate by night, presum- | ably directing their course by noun tain ridges and river valleys, which | are readily discernible by their keen l eyes in the starlight. It is only when | fogs or storms arise that they become | bewildered and, flying lower, are dashed to death against lighthouses, | whose beacon is their lure to destruc ton. It is stated that on one occasion | after a severe storm no less than four teen hundred birds were picked up at | the base of one of New Yorks harbor lights
 By the last of the month the return tide of migrants is setting in in good earnest swelled by the myrtle ana the | hooded warbers, the warbling and the vireoS, the great-crest- ed and tyrant fy-catchers, the brown | creeper, the winter wren, the golden crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets, the wood pewee, the rose breasted grosbeak, the junco, the white-throat, and that l"scrap of valor," the hum ming bird. A visit to Central park will show you most of them, if you look carefully enough. If they find plenty of bay-berries here, the myrtle warb- lers may conclude to go further south, they alone in their aristocratic race being contented with so frugal a diet The breathlessly busy brown creeper hpends the winter in the park and so do the junco and the white throat. The are not so musical in the fall as they are before their departure in the spring, but whistled imitation of their song will bring them about you. brimful of curiosity, and a few of them may answer your whistle. The golden crowned kinslet likewise spends the winter here. In fact, mi gra tion in some cases at least, seems to be largely a matter of finding suit able food. The ruby-croWned kinglets are very fearless like the humming birds, and will come almost within reach, but New York society pals upon them after a month, and they depart to visit the creolee and the Mex cans The hooded-Warbler is ire 1uently seen in the park during the and is one of the most striking and beautiful of the whole family The entire head and throat |