Mr. Abel Chapman's Observations 341 



times no amount of whistling will induce them to come 

 down, and they pass on high in the air. Species like the 

 Curlew Sandpiper (Ancylochilus subarquatus}, which go a 

 long distance to their winter home in Africa, when once on 

 the move, proceed at a great pace, in perfect silence ; even 

 if fired at, they close their ranks immediately, and hurry on 

 till they get to the end of a spit of land, and then go 

 steadily out to sea. It is equally certain that the birds 

 which occur on the Bermudas must have come a long way 

 across the sea to reach them. 



It is said that many small birds take advantage of the 

 larger species, such as Geese and Cranes, and travel on the 

 backs of the latter, and are thus assisted on their way, but 

 it is also possible that birds may ascend to higher atmo- 

 spheres where flight is easier, and thus the migratory effort 

 is considerably aided. On this question some very inter- 

 esting remarks have been made by Mr. Abel Chapman, 

 one of our best field naturalists, and I quote the following 

 from his observations on migration, recently published in 

 his work on 'Wild Norway.' 



" Comparatively speaking, nothing whatever is humanly 

 visible of migration at sea. Every voyage some few belated 

 land-birds, singly, or in twos and threes, will seek refuge on 

 one's steamer. But what do such scarce and casual 

 appearances amount to? Nothing. The birds seen are 

 merely stragglers, lost wanderers fallen out of the ranks of 

 the migrating millions that are not seen. The numbers seen 

 bear absolutely no appreciable relation to the vast sum- 

 total of migration. They are interesting as indices of what 

 is passing beyond our sight, but that is all. 



" Consider what number of summer-birds are required to 

 populate the one thousand two hundred miles of Norway 

 alone. From the Naze to North Cape, not a wooded 

 valley nor birch-clad slope of the fjeld, but is vocal with the 

 melody of summer songsters. The aggregate must count up 



