250 lewis' AMERICAN SPOETSMAN. 



by the following method, viz : on arriving off Duck Island, I 

 caused the people to lie on their oars; and when I saw the flash 

 of the guns which were fired at a flock of Ducks as they passed 

 through the latter, I observed by my watch how long they were 

 in flying abreast of us. The result of very many observations 

 ascertained the rate of their flight to be ninety miles an hour." 

 This velocity of flight is not only wonderful, but seems almost 

 incredible; nevertheless, the fact is well substantiated by the 

 observations of other writers respecting the movements of Birds 

 even less rapid than those of Ducks. For example, it is not an 

 uncommon circumstance to shoot Wild Pigeons {Cohimha Mi- 

 gmtoria) in the forests of Canada, with their stomachs filled with 

 perfect, or rather whole grains of rice, which must have been 

 gleaned from the rice-fields of the Southern States, at a distance, 

 perha]3s, of one thousand miles or more from the spot Avhere 

 the}^ were killed. Now, allowing several hours of active exer- 

 cise to be sufficient to digest this article of food, or, rather, 

 granting the inability of these seeds to resist the action of the 

 digestive apparatus for a longer time than a few hours, it is but 

 fair to conclude that the Birds must have flown with wonderful 

 velocity to have arrived at such a distance from the rice-planta- 

 tions even before its last meal was digested. To still further 

 elucidate this subject, we will mention another well-authenti- 

 cated circumstance that has already been referred to by more 

 than one writer. It is stated that a Falcon belonging to Henry 

 the Fourth, King of France, escaped from Fontainebleau, and 

 was captured again at Malta, a distance of nearly fourteen 

 hundred miles, in less than twenty-four hours from the time of 

 its escape from its former prison. Now, if we suppose this Bird 

 to have been in motion during the whole of the time intervening 

 between its escape from Fontainebleau and its recapture at 

 Malta, the rate at which it travelled would exceed sixtv miles 

 an hour. This supposition, however, is neither correct nor 

 rational, as this species of Bird never flies in the night; and we 

 must therefore grant it the hours of darkness for repose, and 

 calculate the actual velocity of flight accordingly. Allow, 

 therefore, that the Falcon enjoyed eighteen hours of light, 

 which is more than a fair proportion of the time in opposition 



