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The Cleveland Bird Calendar - 1944
Birds at Sea - Wartime CBC
Edward MacArthur, who
is serving with the U. S. Merchant Marine, writes
that while at sea off the U. S. Atlantic coast this
spring he noticed a bird among the cargo of crates
lashed to the deck of his ship. 0n closer inspection
it proved to be a male Towhee. Surprised at this, he
made a search of the deck cargo and listed 4
Towhees, 3 Brown Thrashers, 1 White-throated
Sparrow, 2 Chipping Sparrows, 1 Field Sparrow, and 1
Hermit Thrush, The next day he added a Northern
Yellowthroat to this list. He says that some of
these birds appeared to be fairly exhausted from
flight, and thinks the ship was a welcome resting
spot on their northward migration route. He remarks,
however, that they could hardly be classed as
hitch-hikers, for the boat was sailing south. He
concludes: “So you see, I had my bird walk today in
spite of the fact that I was out on the Atlantic.
And incidentally, it was Sunday today, which reminds
me that you also had a bird walk. And I hope it was
as successful as mine, for mine was successful, I
believe, when you consider the circumstances.”
Source: The Cleveland Bird Calendar Vol 40 No
2
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Page last updated on
Monday August 21, 2006
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