204 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 



spiral, and after circling about a moment, shoot homeward 

 "in a bee-line." Evidently he has "got his bearings." Had 

 you watched him the first time he ever left his hive you 

 would have observed precisely similar conduct to acquaint 

 himself with the surroundings. 



How a bird like the albatross ? the man-of-war-hawk, or 

 the petrel, swinging on tireless pinions in apparently aim- 

 less flight over the tossing and objectless ocean, suddenly 

 rouses its reserve of strength to traverse in a day or two 

 the hundreds of miles between it and the rocky shores 

 where it builds its nest ; or how it finds the lone islet 

 which these winged wanderers of the sea alone render pop- 

 ulous, is not easily explained. ISTor can we readily under- 

 stand how once a year the salmon comes back (from con- 

 jecture only guesses where), not to the coast alone, for 

 that would be no more than an ordinary case of migra- 

 tion, but to the identical stream where it was born ; and 

 to prove that it was not a blind emotion that led it, would 

 be harder than in the case of the pigeon, the bee, or even 

 the frigate-bird. Yet who know r s that the fishes may not 

 be able to perceive the differences in the water which we 

 designate " variations of temperature and density," or still 

 more delicate properties, and thus distinguish the fluid of 

 their native place from the outside element? It is a que 



