5 io A NATURALIST IN THE PACIFIC chap. 



has been discussed with his usual acumen by Whymper {Travels 

 amongst the Great Andes of the Equator). Carried along in the 

 higher air-currents these insects might finally be deposited at 

 places far distant from their home. One reads occasionally 

 extraordinary accounts of a rain of insects. A very circumstantial 

 account was given to me when I was on Keeling Atoll of a shower 

 of dragon-flies that fell on the islands, their remains being found 

 in quantities in the lagoon. Dragon-flies, it is known, are often 

 found at sea far from land, and one species has been observed 

 nearly all over the world, including the Pacific islands. In this 

 connection it is interesting to recall Mr. M'Lachlan's remark in his 

 article on the dragon-fly in the seventh volume of the Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica that some of the earliest fossil forms seem to have been 

 washed ashore after having been drowned at sea. 



Another creature that has been often ignored as a possible 

 agent in seed-dispersal is the bat. Bats are found all over the 

 world, including the oceanic groups, and one can scarcely doubt 

 that they must have often transported seeds, at all events in their 

 hair. They are found at times high up in mountainous regions, 

 and Sir H. Johnston, in his recent work on the Uganda 

 Protectorate, refers to the occurrence of bats at an altitude of 

 13,000 feet. The large frugivorous bats (Pteropidae) are known to 

 be very destructive feeders ; but I doubt whether they swallow 

 the seeds. Dr. Warburg, as is remarked in Chapter XXV, says 

 that they feed on the flowers of Freycinetias, and I have already 

 observed that they visit the flowers of Geissois ternata in Fiji 

 (p. 394). In this fashion Dr. Warburg regards them as agents in 

 pollenisation ; and it seems to me that if, as appears likely, they 

 are attracted by trees with large, brightly -coloured flowers, they 

 would often aid in the dispersal of the minute seeds of trees like 

 Metrosideros. 



Until recently sea-birds, and some particular birds of passage, 

 have been generally considered as only fitted for dispersing seeds 

 in their plumage. That they can also transport seeds inside their 

 bodies is shown below. Dr. R. Brown in his book entitled Our 

 Earth and its Story, 1888, gives a general account of plant-dispersal 

 with numerous references to the Literature on the subject. On the 

 direct route between Scotland and Cape Farewell in Greenland 

 snow-buntings (Plectrophanes nivalis) and other birds of passage 

 frequently alight, as we are told, on ships when hundreds of miles 

 from land. Dr. Brown says that when taking this voyage he 

 examined dozens of these birds. Only in one case, however, did 



