loo THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 



the Bar-tailed Godwit [Limosa rufa uropijgialis)^ 

 appears to lie between New Caledonia and New 

 Zealand, part of which, in the form of Norfolk 

 Island, still remains above the surface of the ocean. 

 The fly-lines of Totaniis incanus also appear to 

 suggest a submerged route across the Pacific from 

 Alaska to Polynesia. One more instance, and that 

 perhaps the most interesting, must be given. The 

 geographical distribution of the eastern form of the 

 Orange-legged Hobby [Faico amurensis) has long 

 been a puzzle to naturalists. This bird breeds in 

 Eastern Siberia, Mongolia, and North China, and 

 winters in India and South-east x\frica ; although how 

 it reaches the latter country, and for what reason, 

 has never been satisfactorily determined. The only 

 possible explanation is, that this bird follows an 

 ancient route across the Indian Ocean, much of 

 which has become submerged, although sufficient 

 is left not only to guide the bird on its ocean 

 pilgrimage, but to indicate the position of the 

 sunken land, in the form of the Maldive Islands^ 

 the Chagos Archipelago, the Seychelles, Amurante 

 Island, and the Saya de Malha Banks (the names 

 in italics probably show the route followed). The 

 individuals of the Common Hoopoe ( Upupa epops)^ 

 that winter in Madagascar, also most probably 

 follow this ancient fly-line, as that bird is other- 

 wise unknown in Africa south of the Equator. 

 That at no very remote age there were considerable 

 land masses along this route (Lemuria), is not only 

 proved by the present conditions of the ocean-bed,. 



