( xvii ) 



§. XXXVIII. 



It appears from the -svorks of Hernandez t, Piso, % and several other writers, that many of the passenger birds of 

 Pennsylvauia, and other parts of the United-States, are also natives of Mexico, Brasil, and other southern parts of 

 Araorica. I shall here mention a few of these birds ; viz. the Vultur Aura, Psittacus pertinax, Oriolus phoeniceus, 

 Oriolus Baltimore ? Gracula Quiscula, Gracida Barita, Picus principalis, Picus carolinus, or Carolina Woodpecker, 

 Alcedo Alcyon? Trochilus Colubris, Oolumha niigratoria, Columba cai-olinensis, Columba passerina, Turdus Poly- 

 gloltos, Tm'dua minor, Motacilla auiocapilla, Ampelis Garrulus, Emberiza Oryzivora, Emberiza Ciris,* or Painted 

 Bunting, Tanagra cyanea, Tanagra rubra, Miiscicapa Tyrannus, or Fork-tail-Flycatchev, Motacilla Sialis, Muscicapa 

 liuticilla, Motacilla carulea, Motacilla Guira,* or Guira Wai-bler, Platalea Ajaja,* or Roseate Spoon-Bill, Ardea 

 canadensis, or Brown Crane, Ardea Nycticorax ? Tantalus Loculator,* or Wood-Ibis, Tantalus ruber,* or Scarlet 

 Ibis, Charadiius Iliaticula,* or Ringed Plover, Charadrius Ilimantopus, or Long-Legged Plover, Ifematopus 

 Ostralegus, or Pied-Oyster-Catoher, Anas sponsa, and many others. § This circumstance renders it very probable, 

 that many of oiu' migratory birds pass their winters in these southern climates. How much is it to be wished, that 

 some intelligent naturalists would furnish us with a list of the migratory birds of Mexico, Brasil, the West-India- 

 Islands, &c. noting down, with cai'e, the times of their disappearance from those countries, and the periods of 

 their retm'n to them. This would throw great light upon the difficidt question which I am examining. Mean- 

 while, I have little doubt it will be found, that several of these birds visit us about the time they leave the warm 

 countries just mentioned. Some of the birds which I have mentioned, in the above list, are known to migrate from 

 and to Mexico, Brasil, and the West-Iudies. 



§. XXXIX. 



My learned and candid friend Mr. Pennant (whose name 1 never mention but with pleasure and with gratitude ; 

 whose works have contributed much to my information, and whose example has stimulated me to the study of na- 

 tural history) thinks there is the "greatest probability," that numbers of the birds of Kamtschatka are common to 

 North-America, " and that they pass there the seasons of migration." jl I may observe, on the other hand, that 

 it is likely that many of the North-American species pass into Asia and Europe, making between these continents 

 and the new-world regular migrations. I think (for I write from memory) that it is Professor Biseke who has lately 

 showu, that several of the North- American birds annually visit the neighbourhood of Mittau, in Courland. Among 

 others, I particularly recollect that this writer mentions the Loxia Cardinalis, or Cardinal Grosbeak. In the farther 

 investigation of the subject of the migration of birds, we shall discover, that many species (many more than is 

 generally imagined) are common to the old and to the new-world ; and that several species are occasionally passing 

 into countries which before they had not visited. I am not afraid, that genuine naturalists will suppose, that the 

 regularity of migration, which I have mentioned, between the two continents, is altogether imaginary. I certainly 

 do not carr\- my birds as far, in search of food, of resting places, and of better climes, as did Cotton Mather, 

 of New-England, who fancied that the Wild-Pigeons, on leaving us, repaired "to some undiscovered Satellite, 

 accompanying the Earth at a near Distance." ^ 



t Renmi MecUcarum Novk Hispiinia; TheBaui-us, scu Plantanim, Anmialium, Mineralium Mexicanorum Historia, &c. &c. Roma-, 1651. Folio. 



J Gulielmi Pisonis, Medici Amstelffidamensis, De India; Utriusque Ee Naturali et Medica Libri Quatuordecim. Amstelirdami, 1658. Folio. 



5 In this list I have not given the English names of any of those birds which occur in the Tables. I have annexed the mark of donbt to a few which , 

 perhaps, are not entirely the same species in the United-States and in Southern America. Those which are designated with an asterisk are not known 



in Pennsyhania. Mr. Pennant (Arclic Zoology. Vol.. II. P. 107.) mentions the Motacilla Guira as a native of New-York. The Emberiia Ciris has 



never (that I can learn) been seen farther north than Cape-Pear in North-Carolina, and not more than one mile from the salt water. Ths Spoon-Bill 



about St. Augustine, in East-Florida, and even as far north 



II Arctic Zoology. ToL. II. P. JI4- 



f See the Philosophical Transactions, Ahridg'd, &c. Vol. V. Part II. 



