He spreads those frail wings of his, and launches into the air, up, up, above trees and steeples, then on and on, being able to fly several hundred miles without resting.

Some birds, when the wind aids them, cover more than a hundred miles in a single hour.
"As to the way, the eye of the bird is like a telescope.

It magnifies and sees from very far off.

Flying through the upper air the bird watches the line of coast and river, and the instinct that is placed in him says, 'Follow these.' So he follows them, remembering that by doing so he has found a place of safety in other seasons.

All through the spring and all through the autumn birds take these mysterious flights--for so they always seem to House People, as flock after flock gathers and disappears.