112 



against the bars of the cage, that but for the precaution 

 of lining the interior, these struggles might be suicidal. 

 " Birds," says the " British Naturalist," " must roam in 

 quest of food ; nor is it a hardship, it is a wise pro- 

 vision. Were they to remain, and had they access to 

 the embryos of life in their then state, one season 

 would go far to make the country a desert ; and even 

 the birds would be deprived of their summer's sub- 

 sistence for themselves and their young." 



On the llth of December last, about half-past 

 three in the afternoon, on the Derby side of Burton- 

 on-Trent, we witnessed an immense assemblage of 

 starlings returned from emigration. This gregarious 

 flock sported in curves and eddies, then whirled en 

 masse,, then stretched far in a fine undulating line, 

 the line of beauty. Sometimes they rose to a con- 

 siderable elevation, and then fell to a lower plane, and 

 would occasionally form a dense aggregate, accom- 

 panied with a total obscuration and eclipse of the land- 

 scape beneath. There were more than thousands, 

 myriads in number. Their graceful curves, and ser- 

 pentine play, and congregated phalanx, altogether con- 

 stituted to us a phenomenon novel and interesting ; 

 while their reeling and sportive figures, ever varying, 

 were of the most beautiful description, and exceeded 

 all that art has ever accomplished in the mazes of the 

 dance. 



Migration is seen in the insect world, and even 

 butterflies sometimes migrate. In the " Mem. de la 

 Societe de Phys. et d'Hist. Nat. de Geneve," we find 

 that an immense swarm of the painted lady (papilio 

 cardui, Lin.), forming a column of from ten to fifteen 

 feet broad, was observed in the district of Grandson, 

 Canton de Vaud, in 1828. They appeared to have 

 traversed the country with great rapidity from north to 



