Page:Auk Volume 13-1896.djvu/127

﻿ do not follow till one or two months later." Taking the American Golden Plover again as an illustration, I must say that without a single exception my observations show results directly opposite, the adults always preceding the younger birds, usually from one to three weeks. It is not unusual for the adults and young to migrate together, but I have no knowledge of the young arriving first on the New England coast. A few examples from my note book may not be out of place. On the night of Sept. ii, 1S89, amidst rain, fog, and southeast wind. Eskimo Curlews' and Golden Plovers, with a few voting birds of the latter, landed on Nan- tucket Island, Massachusetts. On August 25, wind fresh south by east, and night of the 26th, 1892, there was a large flight of adult American Golden Plovers (the second large flight of this month), some two hundred and seventy-five of which were shot. It was not until September 1 that the first young bird of the season was noted; the first flock (about 25 birds) was noticed on September 3, two of which were shot. On September 15, I noticed two flocks of young birds containing thirty and twenty-five birds respectively. The larger flock, after mounting high up in a spiral way and circling, headed southwest on migration. There was not one black and white breasted bird in that Hock, and this goes to prove that these young birds can, if necessary, migrate by themselves. But according to my observations, most of the flocks of young birds that land on the island of Nantucket while on their southern migration (they never return via the Atlantic coast in the spring) contain one or more adults, that is, until late in the season and the old birds have passed by, at which time we find few, if any, adults in the flocks with the young birds. Neither do the young birds seem to care to join at this later date with the adults, if there are any living in the vicinity. On September 11, 1894, I shot eleven young birds, the first noted that season. They must have landed the previous night, as all those previously seen were black and white breasted birds, of which I shot fifteen on the 27th of August. In 1888, up to September 8, a friend and I had shot seventy-three black and white breasted birds, but did not see a young bird until that date. On the night of September 24 or 25, 1882, over one thousand young Golden Plovers (Palebellies) landed on Nantucket Island during a northeast rain storm. I shot forty-nine of them the next day. Not a single black and white breasted bird passed me that day, nor did I hear of one being shot. I instance this out of regard for Mr. Gätke's view, that the young birds can and do migrate by themselves. I might give many more instances of the case in point, but they would be only repetitions with other dates.

Again, page 471, with reference to his statements respecting Charadrius squatarola, I may say that with us, the adults arrive first in the middle of July, while it is not usual to see more than scattering young birds before the first week in September (see Auk, Vol. X, p. 79). Again (see Gätke, page 499), the adult Knots (Tringa canutus) with us precede the young, the former appearing during the latter part of July, the young from the latter part of August to September 10.