The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-12

and wood thrushes, Among the far
 mers, the rain-crows notes are helC
 to be indicative of the wea ather. If his
 ''coW-cow- -coW-coW" is heard on the
 uplands fair weather is assured, but if
 it sounds from the low grounds along
 the streams. look out for rain.
 The chimney swift also disappears at
 this time. Where does it go? MT
 Chapman, in his handbook, says brifly
 Winters in Central America" All
 other ornithologists seem to agree that
 it's winter abode is absolutely unknown.
 It has been thought to hibernate, and
 even Dr. Coues says mot impossibly
 winters in a lethargic state" But let
 us rather content ourselves with MI. Bradford Torrey's view: T am glad,
 also, for the obscurity which attends
 their annual coming and going, 1 Whether they hibernate or migrate, the
 secret is their own, and, for my part, 1
 wish them the wit to keep it. In this
 age, when the world is in such danger
 of becoming omniscient before the
 time, it is good to have here and there
 a mystery in reserve. Though it be
 only little one we may well cherish it as a treasure"
 The male bobolink takes off his styl- 1 ish attire of black and white and buff trimmings, put on q travelling dress l which is like his mates and starts southWard with thousands upon thous- ands of his companions, travelling both Fby day and night He gets the name of ricebird from his inroads on the ! Carolina rice fields, and passee-on finally to spend the winter south of the Amazon. The swallows, whose strong flight fears no bird of prey, migrate by day and travel as far as southern Bra gil. The hermit thrush also appears here early in October but, unlike most | of the migrating multitudes, he fingers for weeks, frequently being seen as late as the last of November, and re turning early in April, but going and coming. for the most part, as quietly as a ghost,
 Before the middle of october the whippoorwill and the night-hawk are on the move, at the same time with the red-eyed vireo, the Maryland vel ow-throat, the long and short billed marsh Wrens, the house wren, the brown thrasher, and the cat-bird, soon followed by the phoebe, the toW-hee bunting, and the tree-swallow. Strange ly enough, the Whippoorwill and the night-hawk are commonly thought to be identical, but they are widely diff ferent, and their differences extend to their migrating habits. The Whippoor- will will pass by night, unnoticed, but the night-hawks gather in large flocks in the autumn afternoons, wheeling about high in the air, the large white spot on their wings shining in the sun as they turn in easy flight, preparing for their journey to South America. The tree-swallows gather in flocks as, soon as the young are able to look out for themselves, usually early in July, and may be seen in vast numbers leaving their roosts among the reedy marshes in the morning or returning at night When at last they are ready to start for their winter homes, they rise to a great height in flocks of countless thousands and are seen no more til the following April. During the migra tions all birds commonly fly at heights varying from 5000 to 15000 feet-a height which renders all the smaller species invisible to the unas- sisted eye, but with a strong glass they may often be seen against the moon on clear nights.
 Finally, when
 The year lies fallen and faded
 On cliffs by clouds invaded,
 With tongues of storms upbraided
 With wrath of waves bedimmed; the red-winged blackbirds and the pur- pie grackles marshal their hosts, the chippy and the field and vesper spar rows leave the bare fields, the fox sparrow, which has fingered here for weeks after leaving his Canadian sum mer home, deserts in turn our hedge rows and thickets. and all are off to winter under milder skies. Last of all is the belted kingisher." So long as the streams remain open he cares nothing for the cold. Last winter he was with | us until January 9th. When his last fishing place is frozen over he. too, goes, and we have left only the per manent residents and the migrants | from the far north which care to go no | farther The tree-sparrow leaves the | Hudson bay regions and comes to us late in October; remaining until April Occasionally, from December to April, | small focSs of pine grosbeaks, tour ists from the North Pole" visit our evergreen and sumach bushes, the fe- ilietlNS III eic|S SoIctS, llt llldieS III SlltS of rose-red. They are pretty sure to be noticed, for, aside from attracting attention by their size, which is nearly that of the robin, there are few of us yet who have not some lingering sus- ceptibility to the fascination of red feathers" The little red-polls are other Arctic visitants which may be expected i during the cold weather. The pine siskin will also arrive during the win ter months, especially where everereens abound
 You may at times during the winter notice conGternation in the ranks of those turbulent little roughs and pugu- lists, the English sparrows Look out at once for the northern shrike, or butcher bird in whose Mother Goose 1t a written:
 Ee fl, fO, farroW! smell the blood of an English spar l
 row.
 and after you have seen him make his breakfast on one of them, go home and mingle with your prisons q prayer that 1 the race of shrikes may be prospered and that heaven may send us a goodly l number every winter And when snow and ice are supreme, watch for hocks 1f the snow bunting to come slurrying town on the wings of the blizzard, themselves almost part of the storm.