AUTUMN WINDS AND WINTER FLOODS 283 



of small birds, and some of these, which were tried, 

 germinated. The castings of Hawks and Owls often 

 contain seeds capable of germination. Fishes eat the 

 seeds of many land and water plants, and are them- 

 selves often eaten by birds. When seeds were stuffed 

 into the stomachs of dead fishes, which were afterwards 

 given to Fishing-eagles, Storks and Pelicans, the seeds 

 were afterwards thrown up or passed out, and several 

 of them were able to germinate. Even large insects, 

 such as Locusts, transport living seeds in their 

 intestines. 1 



The winds, which bring the rain and swell the 

 rivers, are another means of dispersing seeds. The 

 plumed fruits or seeds of the Thistle, Dandelion, 

 Willow and Bullrush, the winged fruits of the Elm, 

 Ash, Sycamore, Lime, Birch and many Umbellifers 

 are carried over the fields by high winds, and those 

 which are small and light may be carried very far 

 indeed. I have seen plumed seeds settle down on the 

 waves at a distance of more than twenty miles from 

 shore, and if my opportunities of observation had been 

 better I could no doubt give much more striking cases. 



Less frequent modes of dispersal are entanglement 

 in feathers, fur or wool (to facilitate which many low 

 plants have their fruits or seeds hooked), and 

 mechanical ejection, such as is practised by the 

 Violets, Geraniums, Furze and many others. Here 

 the distance to which the seeds can be directly 

 conveyed is very limited, often only a few feet, but 

 dense crowding at least is avoided. 



1 Origin of Species, ch. xi. Many other facts of the same 

 order are given in the original. 



