The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-28
(From Washington Star.)

winter homes in the South has been
eoing on by night and by day. These
uigrations, according to the species
and habits Of the birds, are by easy
Ell. &es, with flight by night over a
.,..ce of twenty or thirty miles, rest
ines and feeding by dav, or by long
pcr.ods on the wing, covering day and
hight, and carrying the hiers over,
slaces reckoned in thousands Of miles.
Literally millions of birds, of over $50
~speCies. make this annual pilgrimage
'front.' North to South at the end of
sammer and back again in spring for
tle annual nesting. Many of the
Northern birds pass the winter
months in the gulf states or in Mexico.
Some species penetrate the forests and
valleys of Central America, while
others. like the swallows, fly on tire
tess wing over the whole tropical zone
10 Brazil and Argentina, to spend an
other summer in those far-Off couE-
tries.
Recent Investigations by the gov
eminent, compiled from about 400,-
900 records of observation covering a
period Of twenty-five years in the
United States and Canada, have upset
popular notions regarding the migra-
tons of birds. Such mystery as
chung to the sudden departure Of the
feathered tribes from a given locality
and their return in spring has been
explained.
Reach Conclusion.
scientists of the Smithsonian In
stitution. of the biological survey and
naturalists residing in the Northern
states and Canada ave been study
ing the n verbal flights
of birds, and have reached the con-
-f.,,.~ chat Tho IN crn ont in
winter and North in summer In ODE
dience to physiological laws govern
ing bird life, and not because of
weather conditions or lack of food.
1t is a well-known fact that the south
ward flight Of most birds takes place
i'm August and September, precisely
ut the time when weather conditions
are favorably for their comfort and
the food supply is most abundant.
But having reared their young and
taught them to fly and having moult-
Ell and put on winter feathers, the
FESTIVE bird starts long be-
fore frosty nights or frozen lakes and
rivers make such flight necessary. In
Ike name the return journey begins
AZ "a time before the northern woods
and fields are suited to the purposes
-or which the birds go north. Robins
Iud bluebirds, blackbirds n the
ucadow lark, the killdeer and the
3D. I'i are dIlOUs IL Cdiiy
and they often appea on sunny slopes
.D the southern side of forests before
,he snow has completely gone, when
hey must seek the friendly shelter
of ~eVergreens and the densest thickets
a. Il protection from the rigors Of the
cnid nights. Besides the bird arrive
.t their destination often during
luavy storms. which they wouid nat
rally avoid if they were gifted VIII
ANY such instructive wisdom as ma!
,"eu attributed to them in popula
belief.
The familiar superstition tina tn
e1rly departure of summer birds por
ENDS an early and severe winter AM
she Kindred notion that the movin'
az wild geese and ducks SOUTHWARK
1T nigh aerial attitudes is the tore
"Unner Of a storm are exploded D
these Investigations of the governmen
scientists. Birds may depart fror
northern ATTITUDES because of a SUD
den drop in temperature, blu. the
do not know and cannot know VIVA
the weather conditions will be e
route or in the winter homes to wh.c
they go. Disasters to bird life IN tn
S~emi-annual migrations are proof
this.
Dash Lives Out.
one morning the dead Dodles {
hundreds of birds were picked UP I
The base of the Statue of Liberty.
Ncw York harbor where they ma
dashed themselves to death asaln'
The light during the fog, and q sever
storm OF the preceding night. IN
Has soon after the installation or u
statue, and has been repeated a Sco1
of times since. Birds are found uea
every year at the foot Of the Wasl
ington Monument. They fly again
the column i'll the darkness. In
storm on Lake Huron many focks
october migrants were caught In
sHow-storm and forced into wave
one observer estimated 5000 des
birds TO the mile strewn along II
eastern shore of the lake for sever
miles after the storm.
one spring night a host of Lapia1
lonSspurs was flying over soutne'
Minnesota. The fiOcks encountereo
damp and heavy snowstorm. Weign
ed by the flakes, the deary birds Il