810 



this matter I applied to Mr. Winge, Vice-Inspector at the Zoological 

 Museum, who has very kindly supplied me with the following re- 

 port: »Small crusts of mud, clay, elc, may he found on the beaks 

 and feet of the hirds ^, that are killed at the Danish light- ships 

 during migration and I consider such hirds as Charadrins pliwialis, 

 Hæmatopiis ostreologns, Nnmenins phæopus, N. arqiiatiis which are 

 frequent bolh on the shore and inland, particularly fitled for car- 

 rying about spores of algæ etc. They fly excellently; they may be 

 able to travel the distance from Shetland to the Færoes in about 

 four hours when the weather is favourable^; and they wander 



1 Mr. Winge has afterwards sent me the feet of two larks which had fallen 

 down on the light -ship of Gedser in the autumn of 1904. 1 scraped 120 milli- 

 grammes of mud from these. Further a wing covert of a female blackhird, fallen at 

 the light-house of Skagen on the second of Nov. 1904, on which two things had stuck, 

 one of tliem a Betida-fruit, which must probably have been carried from Norwaj'. 



On March 3rd, 1905, I at length received a sample of earth from Inspector Winge, 

 with the following information: »Earth and fragments of plants from the feet of a 

 lapM'ing, fallen on the light-ship of Horns Reef, March 5th, 1905. The eartii most likely 

 is from England or Holland.« When I received the sample its weight was 360 mgr. 

 Shortly after, I placed it in a Petri-glass under a hand-glass on filter-paper moistened 

 with well-hoiled water. During the summer, some algæ were developed, and Professor 

 Wille, to whom I sent the sample, has kindly stated them to be the following species: 

 Nostoc sp. (most likel}' A'^. Linckiæ (Roth) Bom.). 

 Anabæna sp. (most likely A. variabilis Kiitz). 

 Ulolhrix sp. (belonging to the /?acc/c/a-group). 

 Cijsiococciis hnmicola Nægl. 

 Navicula sp. 

 Moss-protonema (large and well developed) and hyphae of fungi. 



As it is of the greatest importance to know whether the hirds had been 

 soiled during the transport from the light-ship to the Zoologicai Museum of Copen- 

 hagen, I applied to Mr. Winge for information, and he kindly reported: »From the 

 letters of conveyance I learn that all hirds sent from the light-ship of Horns Reef 

 during the spring arrived in »boxes in paper«, that is small, tight, square, nailed 

 wooden boxes, made on board the ship and wrapped up in cap-paper. The boxes 

 were packed on the light-ship, lying in the North Sea about 21 Eng. miles west of 

 the coast of Jutland, and were not opened until they had arrived in my study 

 at the Zoologicai Museum. With the end of a clean knife I here knocked off the 

 earth that stuck to the lapwing's feet, and wrapped it up in a paper which was 

 left unopened till 3'ou opened it yourself. Mould and the like might possihly oc- 

 cur in the Museum but certainl}' nothing else.« 



I likewise think, that the species which developed in the earth cannot possibly 

 have been conveyed to the sample in my study at the Botanical Museum. Mould 

 and the like might also have been convej'ed to the sample here, but such forms 

 were not developed at all. The species found were all earth-plants, and we can 

 certainlj'^ take it for granted therefore that thej' were present in the sample, when 

 the bird fell on the light-ship. 



* Compare Wille: »Færøernes Ferskvandsalgcr« p. 18. 



