172 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



the spring to nest nearer to or within the arctic 

 circle, and tho species which summer and nest 

 with us, winter near the equator. 



With some species every individual disappears, 

 as for instance our swallow and fieldfare ; with 

 others, such as the robin, thrush, and lark we 

 receive immigrants every year. Emigration of 

 these species is less marked, but occurs. 



Nearly every bird, as Prof. Newton reminds 

 us, migrates in some part or other of its range ; 

 a fact which suggests that the phenomena of mi- 

 gration are probably universal. 



But whether this migration be extended to its 

 farthest or confined to its smallest possible limits 

 we find one trait common to all — a "passionate 

 fondness for the old home." 



Prof. Newton has given us two very striking 

 instances of this. The first of these is one of 

 our most sedentary birds — the blue titmouse 

 (Parus cceruleus). A pair of these birds in 1779, 

 or according to some, 1785, "built their nest in 

 a large earthenware bottle placed in the branches 

 of a tree in a garden at Oxbridge near Stockton- 

 on-Tees. With two exceptions only, this bottle 

 . . . was tenanted by a pair of birds of this 

 species from the year in which it was first 

 occupied until 1873, when I saw it . . . but I 

 regret to add that I learnt through Canon 

 Tristram in 1892 that the occupancy had ceased 

 for four years." 



The second case is that of a stone-curlew, a 

 very migratory species. A pair of these birds 

 returned year after year to the same spot to 

 breed though the character of the locality had 



