Our lack of knowledge of Migration 347 



have been shot in the Indian Peninsula, and many have been 

 also procured in Cachar, but my friend, Mr. J. Davidson, 

 has recently found the species in flocks in Canara, which 

 would be about the position from which the birds would 

 " take off" before crossing the sea to Africa. 



The above notes are principally those which served for 

 my popular lecture on the ' Migration of Birds.' They 

 express only a few thoughts on this most interesting sub- 

 ject, and several aspects of the question, notably that of 

 the probable origin of the migratory instinct, are not 

 touched upon. The study of migration is, as I said before, 

 only in its infancy, and we know too little about it for any 

 one to speak or write with much authority about the 

 subject. 



