1 6 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 



Mr. Jack, principal light-keeper. Resting there 

 for a moment, it gave one cheery twitter, and, 

 springing upwards from the outstretched palm, 

 it winged its way in the direction of the land, and 

 was lost sight of in the space of a minute or two." 



This bird may probably have spent the winter, 

 dormant, near the lighthouse. Anyway we here 

 have the most trustworthy evidence of a positive 

 kind. If this does not indicate hibernation capa- 

 bilities amongst certain birds, pray to what else can 

 it be attributed ? Birds normally sleep more lightly 

 than any other creatures; the evidently profound 

 slumber of this individual Swallow w^as highly 

 abnormal, and undoubtedly of a lethargic nature. 



There is another, and it seems to me suggestive 

 fact which deserves notice. Incredulous as it may 

 seem, it is nevertheless true, that the winter 

 quarters of the two most northerly ranging 

 Hirundines are practically unknown. The House 

 Martin [Ckelidon urhica) and the Sand Martin 

 {Cotyle riparia) are known to breed in large 

 numbers, in some cases literally to swarm in the 

 Arctic regions, the former reaching latitude 70^° in 

 Western Europe, and latitude 69° in Siberia ; the 

 latter 70° in Western Europe, 67° in Siberia, and 

 in Kamtschatka on the Pacific coast. As is well 

 known, these birds literally swarm in many districts 

 during summer ; they are obtrusive species by no 

 means easily overlooked, yet nowhere do we either 

 hear of them on passage, or have they been found in 

 Africa, India, or elsewhere during the cold season in 



