MIGUEL 



5402 



MIKADO 



along coast-lines, or follow river 

 valleys, or pass along a chain of 

 islands, as if utilising available 

 landmarks. Exaggerated estimates 

 of the velocity of migrants have 

 gained currency, but it is certain 

 that many attain a speed of 100 m. 

 per hour. Some birds, such as larks, 

 starlings, thrushes, and hooded 

 crows, fly rather low, while others 

 migrate at a height of 3,000 to 

 5,000 ft. In 1921 it was announced 

 that pilots of commercial aeroplanes 

 were to observe bird flight on a 

 precise and organized scale. New 

 light was expected to be thrown on 

 the altitudes at which birds fly 

 when migrating. The lammergeier 

 (q.v.) pursued by an aeroplane was 

 credited with attaining a speed of 

 110 miles per hour. 



Instinct of Migration 



The impulse to migrate at par- 

 ticular times seems to be inborn or 

 instinctive, and of ancient origin. 

 It is exhibited by young birds 

 which have had no experience of 

 winter, and by caged birds which 

 are physically comfortable. More- 

 over, the fact that it occurs at many 

 different levels of intelligence 

 among other backboned animals, 

 such as salmon, turtle, and seal, 

 suggests that it is instinctive in na* 

 ture. Its history is probably in- 

 volved with that of climates, for 

 long, cold, dark, and sterile winters 

 would prompt southward move- 

 ments in autumn, would favour 

 the survival of those restless, ex- 

 perimenting birds which began mi- 

 grating, and would make for the 

 elimination of dull, sluggish, or fool- 

 hardy birds. Another factor would 

 be the over-crowding at the end of 

 the breeding season. The return 

 journey in spring to the colder part 

 of the migratory range may be in 

 part understood, when we remem- 

 ber the risks and discomforts of 

 nesting in hot and dry places, and 

 the abundance of insect life and of 

 fruits and seeds that is character- 

 istic of summer in many areas. 



There is considerable mortality 

 involved in the yearly migrations 

 of birds, especially when the 

 weather conditions are unpro- 

 pitious, but the marvel is that such 

 a large measure of success attends 

 the adventure. Many attempts 

 have been made to explain how 

 migratory birds find their way to 

 their goal, but no secure answer 

 can as yet be given. It is probable 

 that diverse facts have to be taken 

 into account in different cases. 

 Thus some birds seem to utilise 

 landmarks, such as coast-lines, 

 chains of islands, river valleys, 

 mountain passes, which may be 

 very important for them, though 

 not available for others, e.g. for 

 those that make long journeys 



over the trackless sea, or in the 

 darkness, or at a great height. 



It may also be that birds which 

 followed well for several years will 

 lead well in due season, a social 

 tradition being kept up. But in 

 the case of most British birds the 

 novices go off first, and apparently 

 unattended by old experienced 

 birds, though it is difficult to be 

 sure of a fact of this sort. In the 

 unique case of the cuckoo the 

 youngsters are left to make the 

 journey alone, as far as their real 

 parents are concerned, and some 

 of their foster-parents are resi- 

 dents or partial migrants. 



The theory of hereditarily accu- 

 mulated experience has against it 

 two serious difficulties, that there 

 is no secure evidence of the hered- 

 itary entailment of the result of 

 individually acquired experience, 

 and that it is impossible to indi- 

 cate the nature (technically, the 

 psychological and physiological 

 content) of the experience of 

 travelling over sea, in the dark- 

 ness, and at great heights. 

 Sense of Direction 



The postulate of a special 

 " sense of direction " seems merely 

 verbal. Experiments are in pro- 

 gress which may result in a dis- 

 covery of the particular stimuli, 

 such as magnetic currents, in 

 responding to which birds are on 

 the whole guided aright in making 

 for their goal. The difficulty in- 

 volved in the fact that the goal 

 has been previously unexperienced 

 by the individual is not peculiar 

 to the problem of how bird- 

 migrants find their way. It has 

 been proved that nesting terns 

 from Bird Key at the mouth 

 of the Gulf of Florida may be 

 transported in hooded cages over 

 unknown waters to the N. and to 

 the W., for 800 miles and more, and 

 yet find their way back hi a per- 

 centage of cases. The probability 

 is that birds utilise stimuli, at 

 present undetected, which have 

 hereditarily come to have directive 

 significance, and that, in addition to 

 this still unanalysed factor, much 

 of the success in migration may 

 depend on individual acuteness and 

 on socialised cooperation. 



Apart from birds, true migration 

 is illustrated by some fishes such 

 as salmon, sturgeon, and eel; by 

 marine turtles among reptiles ; by 

 seals, sea-lions, some whales, some 

 bats, and some other mammals. 



Bibliography. Article on Migra- 

 tion in Dictionary of Birds, A. New- 

 ton, 1893-96 : Heligoland as an 

 Ornithological Observatory, H. 

 Gatkc, Eng. trans, 1895 ; Structure 

 and Life of Birds, F. W. Headley, 

 1895 ; The Migration of Birds, C. 

 Dixon, new ed., 1897 ; History of 

 Birds, W. P. Pycraft, 1910 ; The 



Dom Miguel, 

 Portuguese prince 



Biology of the Seasons, J. A. Thom- 

 son, 1911 ; The Migration of Birds, 

 T. A. Coward, 1912; Studies in 

 Bird Migration, 2 vols.. W. E. 

 Clarke, 1912 ; The Wonder of Life, 

 J. A. Thomson, 1914 ; The Migra- 

 tion of Fishes, A. Meek, 1916. 



Miguel, MARIA EVARIST (I802- 

 86). Portuguese prince. Born Oct. 

 26, 1802, the third son of John VI 

 of Portugal, he 

 accompanied 

 his parents to 

 Brazil, but re- 

 turned to Por- 

 tugal in 1821. 

 On the death 

 of John VI in 

 1826, the heir 

 to the throne, 

 Dom Pedro, al- 

 ready emperor 

 of Brazil, abdi- 

 cated his rights to the Portuguese 

 throne in favour of his younger 

 daughter, Donna Maria, on con- 

 dition that she married his 

 younger brother, Dom Miguel, but 

 this she refused to do. Dom 

 Miguel was proclaimed king June 

 30, 1828, but was compelled to 

 leave Portugal by the convention 

 of Evora Monte, May 26, 1834. 

 Deprived of his title of Infant 

 of Portugal, and declared to have 

 forfeited his rights of Portuguese 

 citizenship for himself and his 

 descendants, he found refuge in 

 Rome. He married in 1851 

 Princess Adelaide of Lowenstein- 

 Wertheim-Rosenberg, and he died 

 Nov. 14, 1866. 



Mijatovich, CHEDOMILLE (b. 

 1842). Serbian statesman. Born 

 at Belgrade, he became professor 

 of political economy at the High 

 College, Belgrade, 1865. In 1874 he 

 joined the Progressive party, and 

 became a senator in 1875. Minister 

 of finance and commerce, 1873-75, 

 and of foreign affairs and finance, 

 1880, in 1886 he represented his 

 country in the peace negotiations 

 with Bulgaria. In 1894 he was 

 minister to Rumania, and from 

 1895-1900 minister plenipotentiary 

 to Great Britain. In 1900 he was 

 transferred to Constantinople, but 

 was re-appointed to London in 

 1902, resigning in 1903. He pub- 

 lished Serbia and the Serbians, 

 1908, and A Royal Tragedy, 1906, 

 on King Alexander's murder. He 

 married an Englishwoman, Elodie 

 Lawton (d. 1908), who wrote on 

 Serbian history and folklore. Pron. 

 Mee-yahto-vitch. 



Mikado. Title used by Euro- 

 peans, rarely by Japanese, for the 

 emperor of Japan. The word 

 means " exalted gate," cf. " Sub- 

 lime Porte." According to Japanese 

 official chronolog}' Jirnmu, the first 

 emperor, ascended the throne 660 

 B.C. and all subsequent emperors 



