Late in August I pointed out in these notes that, although summer was not yet over, bird migration had commenced. Now that autumn is well advanced his wonderful natural phenomenon is in full swing. It will continue for at least two months; the movements of hi from north to south increasing in volume it reaches its peak about the middle of October, when the full rush of the mighty hordes of waders and wild-fowl will be upon and the night air will be full of their cries or the whistling of their wings as they pass overhead. But already, if one stands out in jthe open on any fine night, one may hear the cries of the advance guard of this great army—plovers, sandpipers, whimbrels and curlews—calling to each other as they wing their way through the moonlight. In my note of August 24 I referred to the tremendous distances travelled by some of these migrants in their journeys between their winter quarters in the south and their breeding grounds. Such journeys are truly astonishing. Some of the waders, for instance, that pass through our area at this season do not stop their travels till they reach Australia. One of the most interesting eases of long distance travel is that of the little Amur redfooted falcon. This species breeds regularly in North China and Manchuria as far north as the valley of the mighty Amur River. It winters in South Africa. It makes the tremendous journey between these two regions of about 10,000 miles twice every year. The Pacific golden plover is another of our birds of passage that covers an enormous distance every year. Breeding in North-eastern Siberia and Alaska, it travels in the autumn down the eastern coast of Asia, on through the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago well into the Southern Hemisphere, and so out into the Southern Pacific, where it winters on some of the islands far to the east of Australia. The longest known non-stop flight in the bird world.is made by certain members of this or a closely related species, which migrate in a single flight from Western Alaska to the Hawaiian Islands, a distance of well over 2,000 miles. The greatest distance known to be covered by any bird on migration is the twice-yearly journey of' the Arctic tern, which literally flies from Pole to Pole, spending what we call summer in North Polar regions and winter in the Antarctic. The vicissitudes faced by birds on migration are many. and great. It is a common thing for land birds to fallow coastline, cutting across bays and gulfs, and resting from time to time on headlands, promontories or even on islands during their journeys. Often, however, storms, beating off shore, carry them out of their courses far to seaward, where they perish in tens or hundreds of thousands as exhaustion overtakes them. Yet with undaunted courage they face these dangers season by season." Never shall I forget, while travelling one autumn in a typhoon irom Tsingtao to Shanghai, observing the numerous swallows migrating southward. The brave little birds were following the same course as my steamer, flying steadily into the teeth of the gale, keeping so low that they had to rise to avoid each oncoming wave. All day long they could be seen overhauling the steamer and passing it I could! not help admiring their pluck, at the same time wondering why they did not seek the shelter of land, but a comparatively short distance to their westward. Even when night fell they did not appear to be doing this, for, as long as I could see in the gathering gloom, I could make out their little forms flying steadily southward. Next morning it was the same: obviously they had been flying all night.
DEC. S 1
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.