Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1899-07-29
LL3 MIGRATING BIRDS.
Stud. 49,, :iiTd Liir in ihc Woods III ali
lis Phases


It's phases.
To ne lover OF nature there is no
subj. .uore in-1.o--Ius than Cnat OIL
bird -. 4tion. The 54.ni-annuat COM
ing >iu s,oing or tne Dlru6 AIdrk Lhe
changt If the season as accul ateiy as
does the calendar. and L-o.e is every
TeasoL 10 believe that u-lc Il-ule,i.6 mus
deteruLued the approach OF WaIiner OF
colder weather.
1t is true they counted time by the
moon, dividing the year and months
into SO many moons. but they anticl-
pated the approach of spring by the
coming of the bluebirds. martins and
thrushe3. while the departure OF eleae
birds in the fall heralded the approach
of cold weather.
Boys and girls can study this subject
with pleasure and profit. A recordtcan
be kept Of the different species of birds
which arrive in the several states, to-
gether with the time of their departure
and when such record extends over
a number of years the facts thus OBJ
tanned are likely to prove of great
value.
Besides this, by studying birds and
their habits we learn to love them:
rivalry will soon spring up as to who
shall catch the first glimpse of the re-
turning songsters, and this will take
us to the woods and fields, where bird
life can be studied in all it's phases.
The department of agriculture at
Washington has enlisted the services
of scientists all over the country. and
secured from them detailed reports as
to what they have seen Of the appear
~ance and disappearance of birds.
One Of the most curious and interest
ing phases of the subject is that of the
relative speed of different birds when
travelling north and south. The corn
parative speed of the different species
was readily obtained, but to find out
the exact number of miles which indi-
Vidual birds can travel in a day was
task Of great difficulty :,
"a Birds, when they once start on their
Journey, do not maintain a steady
flight. Those which breed in certain
grove or orchard are always the first
to appear there in the spring, the de-
sire to.return to their old home causing
them to start early
: In the migration southwark, in the
fall, the young birds seem to be the
most eager to depart to warmer cIimes.
The record Of ffty-eight species Of
migrating birds for one spring showed
that on an average they covered TWEEN
ty-three miles a day during journey
of five hundred miles
They travelled mere rapidly at the
southern than at the northern end Of
their Journey In the mid-Southern
states they fingered for several weeks.
and as they drew near to the North.
they found that the weather was still
cold, so that they did not hurry them
selves
In no ing the average rate Of travel
of twenty-five species it was found that
most Of he species averaged nineteen
miles day during March, twenty
three miles during April and twenty
six miles during May. The later the
bird is in starting for the North the
faster it flies.
1t was also found that the early-ar-
irving birds, such as the robin, the COW
bird and the golden flicker, travel on
an average twelve miles a day. while
those which may be called summer
birds. including the night-hawk. red
bird, Baltimore oriole and ruby-throat-
ed hammer, cover twenty-eight miles
nearly every day.
During the daytime birds do not
travel so far as by night, because they
stop to feed and often wait for other
companies to come up with them.
Land birds make an average of fif-
teen miles in the daytime, but cranes,
geese and ducks fly much faster. 1t is
also thought that birds do not fly for
several nights in succession, but that
they stop to rest and feed after having
flown for One or two nights.
If the Birds were to keep up COM
4iRuous' iollrps y p.orthward they would