THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 309 



According to Sir Hans Sloane, the sea-mews which nestle 

 on the rocks of Barbadoes take every clay a journey over 

 the sea of 130 leagues, to amuse themselves and seek for 

 food on a distant island. The animal thus casts in the shade 

 the results of man's ingenuity. 



On their adventurous excursions birds follow their track 

 unerringly, guided by sensations of an unknown nature and 

 of extreme delicacy, among which sight and smell play a 

 great part. Historians relate that after the battle of Phar- 

 salia the putrid emanations from the dead heaped upon the 

 ground attracted the vultures from Asia and Africa, which 

 came thither to make their repast. It is certain, according 

 to Humboldt, that if a horse or cow be killed in the most 

 solitary passes of the Andes, where one might think not 

 even condors could exist, several of these sordid carnivor- 

 ous birds, attracted by the stench, are soon seen arriving, 

 in order to gorge themselves with the putrefied flesh. 



The migrations of certain birds are understood ; we know 

 from whence they start, where they halt, and where they 

 end their journey. Thus, for instance, in autumn, bands of 

 quails which are emigrating constantly arrive exhausted at 

 the island of Malta, where they meet with fatal hospitality. 

 They are taken in swarms in the streets of the town and on 

 the roads, and as the inhabitants cannot consume the whole 

 of this living harvest, it is sent to distant markets. The 

 deck of the ship in which I left the harbor was laden with 

 them. 



The mysterious emigration of the swallows has particu- 

 larly occupied the attention of observers. Men could not 

 make out what became of these charming visitors when 



