SIDE LIGHTS ON BIRDS 



him that curlews, godwits, and plovers crossed 

 from Heligoland to certain oyster-beds lying to 

 the eastward, at a known distance of rather 

 more than four English miles in one minute, or 

 at the well-nigh incredible rate of over 240 miles 

 an hour. 



Herr Gatke's views appeared to some extent 

 to be sustained by a second observer, Mr. Oswald 

 Crawfurd, who made certain calculations in 

 regard to the speed of turtle-doves on migration. 

 His conclusions were that, if the flight were 

 continuous, turtle-doves leaving ' ' Kent or Surrey 

 at dawn, might easily be the very birds that a 

 few hours later were skimming over the Portu- 

 guese pine-forests on their way to Central Africa." 



Against these estimates, which, although made 

 in perfect good faith, must, from the nature of 

 the case, be based on imperfect data we have the 

 carefully reasoned views of the late Professor 

 Newton. Ne^vton found that the speed attri- 

 buted to the grey crow, for example, 120 miles 

 an hour, was such that, prima facie, none of the 

 crow tribe could attain, and that there is no 

 definite evidence that the crows leaving Heligo- 

 land at 8 a.m., were the identical birds which 

 arrived in England at 11. Newton continues : — 



" If I might cite my own experience (in regard 

 to the general rates of flight), it is to the effect 

 that the swallow does not ordinarily fly so fast 

 as the express train from which one may view it, 

 and a train going at no great speed completely 

 outstrips the partridges which rise in front of it 

 and fly tor a few hundred yards alongside of it, 

 as I have observed again and again." 



Further, Mr. Tegetmeier has stated that the 

 average speed of homing pigeons in 18 matches 

 is 36 English miles an hour, though in two of 



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