The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-06-17
A Study of the Nocturnal Flight of Birds.
BY Leander >. Keyster.

chilly. with raw southeast wind-just
the kind OF night in the autumn for
wave" Of migrants. Here, for the
greater part OF the night, he gave himself
up TO counting the various bird-calis and
studying the effect OF the migratory
movement above him upon his own mind
or course, the task he set himself must
have been a difficult one. and entire ac-
euracy could not be expected. but he tells
us that he recorded 1850 bird-cails which
made an average of twelve per minute
during the time OF hts observations This
rate, however. was far from uniform, for
sometimes he was able to record two or
three calls per second. while at other
times only that number occurred per
minute. The food tide for the night
seemed to be reached between and 3
o'clock. as during that hour he counted
sac calls.
The observer tries to give some idea Of
the impression produced upon his mind
by the passage OF the feathered army
overhead. At times the air seemed to be
fairly alive with birds as their calls rang
out in the silence Of the night. now sharp
~ and near at hand, anon family and
far away. There were moments when a
flock seemed 10 be so near that their
presence could almost be felt, although
the darkness yelled the procession from
sight. Many varieties Of bird voices were
recognized. the harsh squawk of water
fowl, the musical chink Of a bobolink.
the fine. shrill notes of the warbiers and
smaller sparrQws, and numerous others.
More than onct an entire flock came into
range. and then gradually passed out OF
hearing, preserving a solid phalanx, like
an orderly body OF horsemen, as the OBJ
server could distinguish from the unity
of their calls
Surprising as II may seem, the direc-
-
was not always the same. The prcdom-
inant direction. as you would expect, was
southwark. especially up to 10 o'clock. but
after that the diversity OF direction con-
;inued to increase. until II reached it's
maximum between IL and o'clock. AT
this time the eight principal points OF the
compass were represented by numbers
varying from three to twenty-eight, two
thirds of the whole number still MAIN
tanning a southerly direction"
The sudden changes in direction, TO
which reference has been made. may sug-
gest something else besides the presence
of enemies. A bird may become sepa-
rated from his companions. and on hear
ing their calls in the distance. may make
a swift detour in their direction. Toward
morning the greatest variation in move
ment was observed. and the largest mum.
Der OF calls were heard showing that
some confusion prevailed in the feathered
ranks and that the professionals were
trying 10 collect their scattered forces
Brief as was the time that each bird
appeared within the circle OF vision. a
number OF species were identified. More
OF the red-winsed blackbirds were recog-
nized than OF any other species. and next
in abundance were the meadow iarks, OF
which several focks were seen. In adj
dition TO these. the purple grsckle the
sparrowhawk. the yeliowhammer. and
one species OF duck were distinguished.
while several large focks OF birds re-
sembling gulls were seen. though their
precise Identity could not be determined.
And what about the sparrowhawk that
obtruded itself into this nocturnal COM
pany? He was moving leisurely along
in no particular direction. except that he
seemed to be following the main stream
OF travellers" His hesitating manner
showed "how well concealed were his
Intended victims. though he had sufficient
intimation of their presence TO keep him
on their track"