NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



land Islands, the far Faroes nay, even such solitary and 

 remote Atlantic rocks as the lonely island of St. Kilda. 

 It is well known in North Europe, resorting in its spring 

 passage to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. But, 

 beyond even these migrations, there is established the 

 fact that this feeble-winged creature, which in Sep- 

 tember seems scarcely capable of flapping heavily for 

 thirty paces before the gunner, can and does summon 

 up powers of flight sufficient to carry it across stormy 

 and trackless seas as far north as Greenland and as far 

 north-west as the Bermudas and the eastern shores of 

 North America. Wonderful as are the facts and re- 

 cords of migration, the case of the homely landrail 

 is certainly one of the most remarkable among the 

 instances of this overpowering instinct. 



Quitting our British fields, as I have said, towards 

 the beginning of October, the landrail seeks light, 

 warmth, and a fresh variety of food southward and 

 eastward over a sufficiently wide expanse of country. 

 Touching here and there as it does in its spring 

 migration various countries in the south of Europe, it 

 proceeds to take up its winter quarters in North Africa, 

 Palestine, and Asia Minor, penetrating eastward cer- 

 tainly as far as Afghanistan. Beyond Afghanistan its 

 range seems limited, only one instance of the landrail 

 having been recorded in India. In its African migra- 

 tion it is manifest that, although not yet identified in 

 the central part of the continent, it does pass south- 

 ward right through the heart of the country. The 

 well-known naturalist Mr. T. Ayres identified many 

 specimens years ago in Natal, and its presence there is 

 well known. Curiously enough, only a single speci- 

 men has been recorded in the Cape Colony. Mr. E. L. 

 Layard, in his excellent Birds of South Africa, makes 

 mention of this particular example, which was killed on 



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