Life — June 25, 1925 — page 19: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *Life* magazine shows a satirical cartoon titled "Migratory Birds." The illustration depicts well-dressed figures (appearing to be businessmen and society people) flying upward like migrating birds above a cityscape. The metaphor suggests these are wealthy urbanites departing the city—likely fleeing to seasonal retreats or vacation destinations, as birds migrate. The satire appears to mock the leisure habits of the affluent upper class, who "migrate" seasonally just as birds do naturally. By comparing fashionable city dwellers to migratory birds, the cartoon humorously reduces their behavior to animal instinct, suggesting their movements are as predictable and instinctive as nature itself. The specific historical context—which season or event prompted this particular exodus—remains unclear from the visible text.