UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 10, No. 1, pp. 1-44, 6 figures in text, 2 tables September 12, 1956 Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration BY HARRISON B. TORDOFF AND ROBERT M. MENGEL UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1956 * * * * * UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Robert W. Wilson Volume 10, No. 1, pp. 1-44, 6 figures in text, 2 tables Published September 12, 1956 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1956 [Illustration: Logo] 26-3856 * * * * * Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration BY HARRISON B. TORDOFF AND ROBERT M. MENGEL Contents PAGE Introduction 4 Accidents to Migrating Birds in early October, 1954 6 General 6 Accidents at Topeka, Kansas 6 Description of WIBW-TV tower 7 Weather conditions 7 Acknowledgments 7 Notes on the Species Killed at Topeka 8 Randomness of the Sample 17 Number of Migrants 18 Differential Migration of Sex- and Age-classes 20 History of the subject 20 Differential migration of sex- and age-classes as shown by the Topeka sample 23 Molt in Relation to Migration 29 General comment 29 Molt in the Topeka sample 30 Size Differences according to Sex and Age 31 Linear measurements 31 Weights 32 Computations of Longevity and Survival 38 Processing of Samples 38 Summary 39 Literature Cited 41 Introduction This paper is primarily an analysis of a sample of migrant birds killed in the autumn of 1954 by striking a television tower one mile west of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas. Secondarily, some aspects of migration involved in studies of this kind are discussed and historical background is presented.