T. A. Coward

Name: The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10
Author: T. A. Coward

The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

Summary

“The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10”, published in 1912, is a work by T. A. Coward. It explores elements such as birds, gull and Greenland.

Quotes from The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (T. A. Coward)

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ We know that strong-winged waders can accomplish 2500 miles, apparently without a rest, and that if rest is necessary these birds can swim and rise from the waves. We know, too, that there is regular passage between Greenland and Europe. We do not know how long a bird can, without rest and food, sustain flight; we do not know the speed it can travel when aided by favourable winds, nor to what extent even passerine birds may rest upon the water. ”

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T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ We do not know the extent of Greenland as a summer breeding home of birds; the growing knowledge of this vast continent proves that its summer avifauna is much larger than we thought, and that western and eastern forms inhabit adjacent breeding areas; the possibility of birds banding with the wrong set of travellers is greater than was suspected.
It is urged that the western shores of Scotland and Ireland should receive these stragglers, but that the records of American birds are fewer from these coasts than from the eastern shores and even Heligoland. ”

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Source: Wikisource

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ There is no doubt that now and again American species are met with in Europe, and European in America, though there is no evidence of direct regular trans—Atlantic passage, except from Greenland. The appearance of these birds has been explained in several ways, the general notion being that it is impossible for a bird to fly unaided across the Atlantic, say over 3000 statute miles, without rest. In considering the question we are met with various points on which we still lack knowledge. ”

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Source: Wikisource

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ The penguin's migrations cannot possibly be on the wing. Dr Brooks rightly contended that the periodic assemblage of wandering sea-birds at their "rookeries" is true migration, regular as the almanack, although the feeding area is immense and the birds do not reach home by any single path. ”

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Source: Wikisource

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ Take two examples of the genus Oestrelata, one O. brevipes [2] taken at Earth in 1889, and O. neglecta [3] in Cheshire in 1908, the known breeding range of both being in the western Pacific; pelagic wanderings might lead a bird anywhere, but it is conceivable that investigation may show that the breeding area is wider than is supposed and that these species have stations even in the South Atlantic. ”

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Source: Wikisource

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ Not only do the birds move south in the early days of September but many, usually at any rate, cross England; the weaklings fall out and are found. Is it possible that some of these collapses of passing birds are due to more than mere physical fatigue? Aviators have discovered the existence of "wind pockets" or "holes in the air," where the resistance of the air appears suddenly to fail; what is the effect on a flying bird which suddenly enters one of these pockets?
The lesser black-backed gull also Crosses England in large numbers ”

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Source: Wikisource

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ Unfortunately there is the negative evidence of fraud, for when unscrupulous dealers found that the public would give high prices for rare birds, a trade in American skins began. It is not impossible that even Gätke was victimised. ”

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Source: Wikisource

T. A. Coward, The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (1912)

“ Some writers affirm that birds only migrate on the wing, but the journey by sea of many species is varied in method. Those very regular migrants, the puffins and guillemots, which the light keepers assure us leave and return to their stations almost at fixed dates, move by slow nautical stages, swimming and feeding as they go, On May 2nd, 1911, I watched a red-throated diver slowly travelling north ”

T. A. Coward

Summary

Quotes from The Migration of Birds — Chapter 10 (T. A. Coward)

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