242 On the Torpidity of Animals* 



stroiis a Supposition ? Nothing but the most vague testi- 

 nioniesr, and histories repugnant to reason and experience*.'^ 



It appears somewhat surprising to me,, that an author 

 who has so long had the subject of the torpidity of animals 

 under his consideration, should have hazarded the as- 

 sertion contained in the preceding paragraph. Dr. Reeve 

 has, certainly, read of other birds, besides the swallow, the 

 cuekow, and the woodcock, which are said to have been 

 found in a torpid state. And ought he not to have men^ 

 tioned these l)irds ? 



In my Fragments of the. Natural History of P^nnsTjU 

 vania, which Dr. Reeve, if I do not mistake, has seen, for 

 he has referred to the work in his Inaugural Dissertation 

 published in 1603, I have mentioned the common hura- 

 ming-bird (irochilus coluhris) as one of those American 

 birds which do occasionally become torpid. I have parti- 

 cular reasons for quoting the passage, as it occurs in the 

 Fragments. ** I have not been able to learn, that the 

 humming-bird winters in any, not even in the warmest, 

 parts of the United States. I cannot hesitate to consider 

 it as a bird of passage. A gentleman, however, whose 

 name I do not recollect, wrote a little paper to prove, that 

 these birds continue with us all the winter: why? ber 

 cause one of them was, one frosty day, in the month of 

 October, found a good deal benumbed in a church, in aom« 

 part of New England, I think in Connecticutf." 



In the same work, speaking of the caprtmulgiis vlr- 

 ghilanus^ or whip- poor- Will of the Americans, 1 have 

 said : *^ I have been informed, that some of these birds 

 have been found in a torpid state, in hollow trees, in New- 

 Jersey. But I cannot entirely depend upon the fact j and 

 I have little hesitation iu saying, that this bird, as well aa 

 the swallows, to which it is allied, is a bird of passage J.'" 



Here, then, there are two American birds, besides those 

 enumerated by Dr. Reeve, which are supposed, by some 

 persons, to become torpid in the winter season. Nor do 

 these complete the list. It is the opinion of many well- 

 informed persons, in the United States (but I by no means 

 vouch for the verity of the story), that the Virginia corn- 

 crake, 6i rail {rallus virginianus), becomes torpid, and 

 remains among the mud and grasses of our meadows, Sec, 

 during the winter-season. It is asserted, by many other 



•>•♦ An Essay, &c. section ii. pages 39, 40. 



f Fragments of the Natural History of PennsylvaiJa,- Part First. Ap- 

 |»«ndix L pages IS and 19. Philadelphia, 1799. 



( fragmeius, &c. Appendix I. page 18, 



persons. 



