MIGRATION. 159 



with Wagtails, Quails, Kites, etc., and do not breed there. Now this 

 appears to me a direct proof, or as direct as we can obtain. In Caillie's 

 "Travels to Timbuctoo" we find an analogous passage, and the circumstance 

 of Swallows settling on the rigging of ships in all latitudes, is too notorious 

 to need further proof. The other birds of passage are so desultory and 

 uncertain in their movements that it is much more difficult to obtain 

 anything like satisfactory information regarding their transit, but we have 

 sufficient evidence that they make their way by the British Channel, 

 through France, and across the Mediterranean, (probably by Gibraltar, 

 being the narrowest passage,) as it has been observed in Spain that there 

 is an annual flitting of this kind of birds in autumn, through that country 

 towards Africa, many parts of which are quite unknown to us; and may 

 it not be very- reasonably supposed, that were we acquainted with those 

 regions, we might meet with many of these truant wanderers. 



The sea voyage has often been urged as an insuperable bar to the 

 migration of our weaker summer birds, but, I think, this may be easily 

 answered even supposing that they took an extensive voyage, which I 

 believe they do not. In elucidation of this I will relate a curious circumstance 

 as it was told to me by a gentleman whose veracity I cannot doubt, more 

 particularly as he was no naturalist, and merely mentioned it as a singular 

 thing. "Being at Dover during the autumn he walked daily on the beach, 

 at some distance from the port, for the sake of sea-air and exercise, and 

 one morning seeing a fisherman looking anxiously out to sea, his curiosity 

 was excited, and he enquired what he was gazing at, and to his no small 

 surprise received for answer, 'A covey of birds, sir/ 'A covey of birds !' 

 said my friend in astonishment. 'Aye, sir/ replied the man, 'it is not 

 uncommon when they're shooting inland, for the birds to fly out to sea; 

 and then when they can't fly any further why they just settle, and there 

 they are settled, pointing with his finger. After a good deal of pointing out, 

 (for there are not a many, or rather too many marks to go by at sea,) the 

 Partridges, or some birds which were said to be Partridges, were certainly seen 

 on the face of the water; a boat was subsequently got and rowed towards 

 them, which my friend watched with some interest; but what was his 

 surprise to see them rise from the sea, and take another flight, and another, 

 but from fatigue and wet they were soon taken up alive, and brought to 

 shore, and this, he was informed, was often done." 



Now, as my readers may perceive, my reason for introducing this story 

 is to shew that if such a heavy bird as a Partridge, and one which re- 

 quires such an exertion to raise itself, could be sustained on the surface 

 of the water, and rise from it more than once, how much more could 

 our light fragile summer travellers do so? and supposing the weather fine 

 and calm, which it usually is in October and the beginning of May, (the 



