The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-11-09
WHERE THE BIRDS GO.

Everybody wnoWS that most birds
come North to their nehting grounds
in the spring and South in the fall.
Many observers have kept records
spring and fall for many years and in
many parts of the country.
But these records while interesting
do not yield their full value unless
they can all be studied together, as
each n tells what time the birds
come to one region.
W. w. Cook at Washington has spent
many years collecting such lists and
encouraging observers to make them
and in carefully studying out the fact
of the migration for each North Amer
lean bird-its route it's spread and a
great many other things that have
until now been only hazily understood.
Although most of his work is still
unpublished, he has printed some of
his most remarkable discoveries and
broughtto light some very unexpect-
ed things concerning the migration of
birds Of the truly difficult as well
as delightful puzzles in nature and
science for young folks and grownups
alike.
Some of the longest journeys are
made by the tiniest birds. The hum
ming birds go from the middle States
to Mexico and even South America
and back every year. Blackburnian
warblers were still common at the
equator in Columbia on April 81, 1911,
though they arrive in New York by
May 10, and most of them breed still
further North.
-~ aF
Some birds for reasons hard to learn
take a different course coming North
from that going South. The Connec-
ticut warbler, fairly common in Sept
ember and October in the Atlantic
States, is eve seen three in the
spring. invariably making its north
ward journey west Of the Allegheny
mountains. Most small birds make
their long flights at night and feed
and rest during the day, but the swal-
lows reverse the rule.
Generally the northward fight is
rapid, condensed and soon over, but
the return movement begins for some
birds as early as the Fourth of July
and it is in progress until nearly
Christmas Some birds over a wide
erea, spread nearly across the con-
tinent, while others have a narrow
channel out of which they seldom go.
The redpoll warblers wintering in
Louisiana come northeast up the At
lantic seaboard to Labrador, while i
those from Florida start northeast for
Alaska, their paths crossing in Geor-l
gia at right angles.
A few speckles leWve the far north
in August and September, making
enormous flights over the ocean to
winter homes in the southern hemis-
phere. Thus the golden plover leaves
Scotia and flies without a stop
straight to South America, wintering
on the pampas of Argentina a jour-
ney of scme 5000 miles, $500 being
over the ocean without a stop even
for food.
On the Pacific side the golden
plover leaves the Aleutian islands and
goes $500 miles to Hawaii without a
rest and winters n the southern hem
isphere from the Society islands to
Australia. With this bird it is the |
northward trip that is slow, and the
eastern group crosses the continent
of South America, Mexico, the Great
Plains and across Canada to it's Arc
tic grounds, while the Western birds
go up the Malay peninsular and along
the Chinese and Siberian seaboard.
Wonderful as is the enormous Jour
ney of 1900 to 15, 600 miles each year
there is at least n bird whose an
trip exceeds the plover's by sew
eral thousand miles. The Arctic tern
nests from Maine to within eight de-
grees of the north pole, spends its
summers in the land of continuous day
and in its migration goes to a region
in the antartic equally near the south
pole.
In it's round trip it may " as
much as $4,000 miles-nearly equal
to flying around the world at the equa-
tor. In all the yea the only time it
experiences full darkness is during
the few nights passed in the neighbor-
hood of the tropics, for it's summer
about the north pole is one long day as
is its winter about the south pole.
But although this is much the long
est journey made by any bird it is not
in some ways as remarkable as the
plover for the tern is a sea-bird and
can at any time dive into the water
and feed on the abundant supply of
fishes and other marine. animals, while
the plover is really a land bird, inca
pable of feeding at sea. So it has to
fatten up before leaving it's summer
home and make half of its enormous
autumn journey without food.
The Farm is the Thing.
1t is a significant n h~eartening