ore, this little waif had been able to
reach the steamer on the deck of which it had fallen exhausted and
died. What of its companions of the night before?

On May 3, 1915, I was on a ship two hundred miles off Brunswick,
Georgia. That day the following birds came aboard, all in an exhausted
condition: Brown Creeper, Spotted Sandpiper, Green Heron, and
Yellow-billed Cuckoo. We also encountered three flocks of Bobolinks,
which for some distance flew beside the ship. They appeared to be
lost, for they all left us finally, flying straight ahead of the ship,
{79} which was bound South, yet birds were supposed to be going North
at this season. I wonder if in their bewilderment they mistook the
ship for some immense bird pointing the way to land and safety!

[Illustration: Tired Migrating Birds Often Alight on Ships]

_Keeping Migration Records._--More than thirty {80} years ago the
United States Government put into operation a plan for collecting and
tabulating information concerning the dates on which migratory birds
reach various points in their journeys. More than two thousand
different observers located in various parts of the country have
contributed to these records, many of the observers reporting annually
through a long series of years. As a result of this carefully gathered
material, with the addition of many data collected from other sources,
there is now on file in Washington an immense volume of valuable
information, much of which, in condensed printed form, is obtainable by
the public. This work was in charge of Professor Wells W. Cooke,
Biologist, in the Biological Survey of the United States Department of
Agriculture until his lamented death in the spring of 1916. Who will
take charge of it hereafter is not yet determined; but students may
obtain from the director of the Survey migration schedule blanks upon
application, and bulletins describing the emigration habits of various
North American birds. {81} Watching for the annual appearance of the
first individual of each species is most fascinating occupation.

[Illustration: Feeding station for birds on the grounds of R. G.
Decker, Rhinebeck, New York. The glass sides prevent the seeds from
being blown off the tray a foot or more below the roof.]

Note.--Government bulletins on the migration of various North American
birds may be obtained free, or at slight cost, by addressing H. W.
Henshaw, Chief Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture,
W