Article April 25, 1903 Issue

The Migration of Birds

Harry F. Witherby

Chambers Journal

The migration of birds at certain seasons of the year has excited the notice and the wonder of mankind for ages. That the hawk is wont to "stretch her wings toward the south" was as well known to the writer of the Book of Job as it is to the Nile boat-traveler of to-day. Aristotle quotes the proverb, "One swallow does not make a summer;" and Homer compares the noisy march of the Trojans to the clamorous flight of a flock of cranes, "which flee from the coming of winter and sudden rain." The Arabs are said to have been helped in the compilation of their calendars by noting the times of arrival and departure of migratory birds; and the Indian of the far Northwest has received much the same aid from the birds of another continent.

In spite of this ancient and world-wide observation, the migration of birds is even yet a profound mystery; in the words of Professor Newton, "perhaps the greatest mystery which the whole animal kingdom presents." Theories there are by the score; but, notwithstanding all the careful records and the laborious work of ornithologists during late years, much more evidence must be collected before we can hope for a solution of our difficulties.

By far the most important and valuable results ever achieved in any country have been gained from the enormous mass of information collected during eight years by a special committee appointed by the British Association in I88O. The committee were greatly indebted to the keepers of the lighthouses and lightships round the coasts of the British Isles, these men having most cheerfully and very intelligently filled in the schedules sent to them, and in this way no less than one hundred thousand detailed observations were recorded in the eight years covered by the inquiry. The investigations already accomplished make it now possible to give an accurate survey of the main facts of the migrations of birds.

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