278 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 



further embarrassed to find, that some do not actually mi- 

 grate at all." 



In another part of his work, Mr. White says : " Bui we must 

 not deny migration in general ; because migration certainly 

 does subsist in some places, as my brother in Andalusia has 

 fully informed me. Of the motions of tfiese birds he has ocu- 

 lar demonstration, for many weeks together, both spring and 

 fall ; during which periods, myriads of the swallow kind 

 traverse the straits from north to south, and from south to north, 

 according to the season. And these vast migrations consist 

 not only of swallows, but of bee-birds, hoopoes, oropendulos or 

 golden thrushes, &/c. &,c., and. also many of our soft-billed 

 summer birds of passage, and, moreover, of birds which never 

 leave us, such as all the various sorts of hawks and kites. Old 

 Belon, two hundred years ago, gives a curious account of the 

 incredible armies of hawks and kites which he saw in the 

 spring time traversing the Thracian Bosphorus from Asia to 

 Europe. Besides the above mentioned, he remarks that the 

 procession is swelled by whole troops of eagles and vultures." 



'* The swallow," says Dr. Fleming, in his Philosophy of 

 Zoology, " about whose migrations so many idle stories have 

 been propagated and believed, departs from Scotland about 

 the end of September, and from England about the middle of 

 October. In the latter month, M. Adanson observed them on 

 the shores of Africa, after their migrations from Europe. He 

 informs us, however, that they do not build their nests in that 

 country, but only come to spend the winter. M. Prelong has 

 not only confirmed the observations of Adanson in reference 

 to swallows, but has stated at the same time, that the yellow 

 and gray wagtails visit Senegal at the beginning of winter. 

 The former (motacilla flava) is well known as one of our sum- 

 mer visitants. The nightingale departs from England about 

 the beginning of October, and from the other parts of Europe 

 about the same period. During the winter season, it is found 

 in abundance in lower Egypt, among the thickest coverts, in 

 different parts of the Delta. These birds do not breed in that 

 country, and to the inhabitants are merely winter birds of 

 passage. They arrive in autumn and depart in spring, and at 

 the time of migration are plentiful in the islands of the Archi- 

 pelago. The quail is another of our summer guests, which 

 has been traced to Africa. A few, indeed, brave the winters 

 of England, and in Portugal they appear to be stationary. 

 But in general they leave this country in autumn, and return 

 in spring. They migrate about the same time from the east- 



