. Britain's birds and their nests . tal districts, andmay then be found feeding on the tidal mud-flats andsandbanks, but it is probably more a matter of generalclimatic conditions than love of littoral autumn, also, our coasts form part of the migrationroutes of many of the Plovers nesting in more northernlands, including representatives of the handsome GrayPlover, or perhaps of still rarer species which, like it,never nest within our area. Many of these migrantsfind congenial winter-quarters with us ; but greater numberspass on, some of them to lands far south of the equato
. Britain's birds and their nests . tal districts, andmay then be found feeding on the tidal mud-flats andsandbanks, but it is probably more a matter of generalclimatic conditions than love of littoral autumn, also, our coasts form part of the migrationroutes of many of the Plovers nesting in more northernlands, including representatives of the handsome GrayPlover, or perhaps of still rarer species which, like it,never nest within our area. Many of these migrantsfind congenial winter-quarters with us ; but greater numberspass on, some of them to lands far south of the equator,to repass our shores more hurriedly on the return journeylate in spring. Before their passage is nearly over, how-ever, our own moors have their full quota of Ploversalready engaged in the serious business of on this depends a problem. Do the birds breedingfarthest north migrate farthest south, and do birds breed-ing midway, as the Plovers in the British Isles, remainmore or less stationary ? Or do the midway birds. v^V^ Plate 2:;. GOLDEN PLOW^K—Charad}msplnviaUs. Length, 11 in. ; wing, 7-5 in. [LIMICOL/E : Charadriidie.] J 74 BRITAINS BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 75 migrate with the rest—being replaced by birds from theextreme north of the range—but return earlier than thosewhich must nest in countries remaining longer in the gripof winter ? If that were so, would not the flocks aboutour coasts, which we have for the moment assumed tobreed farther north than any wintering to the south ofus, be the very last to go ? After all, the first sug-gestion seems the more likely, but proof is entirely is it easy to imagine any possible method of proofexcept, perhaps, bird-marking on an immense scale. Thequestion is no mere matter of interesting speculation, butone which, unanswered, obstructs the threshold of the greatproblem of the origin of the migrational habit, which inturn leads us to deep problems of psychology, heredity,and other aspects of biology as
Size: 1696px × 1474px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirdsne, bookyear1910
