4i6 



NA TURE 



[Sept. 24, 1874 



regions in question would not supply food sufficient for 

 both parents and offspring — the latter being, at the lowest 

 computation, twice as numerous as the former — unless 

 the numbers of both were diminished by the casualties of 

 travel. But another point must not be overlooked. The 

 most sedentary of birds year after year occupy the same 

 quarters in the breeding season. In some instances this 

 miy be ascribed, it is true, to the old haunt affording the 

 sole or the most convenient site for the nest in the neigh- 

 bourhood, but in so many instances such is not the case 

 that we are led to believe in the existence of a real par- 

 tiality, while there are quite enough exceptions to show 

 that a choice is exercised. The same may equally 

 be said of the most migrant of birds, and perhaps 

 the strongest instance that has ever come to my know- 

 ledge refers to one of the latter. A pair of Stone Curlews 

 {(-Kdicncmits crepitans) — a very migratory species, affect- 

 ing almost exclusively the most open country — were 

 in the habit of resorting for many years to the same 

 spot, though its character was entirely changed. It had 

 bten part of an extensive rabbit warren, and was become 

 the centre of a large and flourishing plantation. It seems 

 to me, therefore, that among the causes of migration the 

 desire of returning to old haunts must be included. 



1 1. TIw Mode or Modes 0/ Migration. — This heading is 

 capable of much subdivision. The means of transition are 

 of course found in the bird's wings, but do all birds mi- 

 grate in the same manner ? Nay, more, does the same 

 species of bird migrate in the same manner at all times ? 

 And how is its return to the old haunt accomplished 

 with a degree of certainty that in most cases may be called 

 unerring ? 



That all birds do not migrate in the same manner is 

 pretty plain. Some, as the swallows, conspicuously con- 

 gregate in vast flocks, and so leave our shores in a large 

 company, while the majority of our summer visitors slip 

 away almost unobserved, each apparently without concert 

 with others. 



It is also pretty nearly certain that the same species of bird 

 does not migrate in the same manner at all times. Mr. 

 St. John telis us of the arrival of skylarks on the coast of 

 Norway : — "They come flitting over in a constant strag- 

 gling stream, not in compact flocks." Yet it is notorious 

 that a little later these same birds collect in enormous 

 flocks, which prosecute their voyage in company. As 

 tending to the same conclusion, I need hardly do more 

 tlian refer to the excellent observations of Mr. Knox on 

 the movements of the Pied Wagtail (" Ornithological 

 Rambles," third edition, pp. 81 — 86) and, indeed, to the 

 whole of his remarks on migration, because they must or 

 ought to be known to everyone who takes an interest in 

 the subject. But more than this, it is pretty nearly cer- 

 tain that of the majority of northward migrants in spring 

 the males take the lead, and anticipate the advent of their 

 mates by some days, not to say weeks — a fact which may 

 possibly indicate the existence of another cause of migra- 

 tion to which I have not before alluded— while this 

 peculiarity has never been observed in the autumnal 

 movement. 



Then comes the question, How is it that birds find their 

 way back to their old home.'' This seems to me the 

 most inexplicable part of the whole matter. I cannot 

 even offer an approach to itsjsolution. There was a time 



when I had hopes that what is called the " homing " 

 faculty in pigeons might furnish a clue, but my good 

 friend Mr. Tcgetmeier has cruelly deprived me of that 

 consolation, declaring that knowledge of landmarks ob- 

 tained by sight, and sight only, is the sense which directs 

 these birds, with which he is so conversant ; while sight 

 alone can hardly be regarded as much of an aid to birds 

 — and there is some reason to think that there are 

 several such — which at one stretch transport themselves 

 across the breadth of Europe. Here I have no theory to 

 advance, no prejudice to sustain. I should be thankful 

 indeed for any hypothesis that would be in accordance 

 with observed facts. They leave no room for chance and 

 not much for counteracting forces. Occasionally the 

 return of the nightingale, the swallow, or other land birds, 

 may be somewhat delayed, but most sea-fowl can be 

 trusted as the almanack itself Were they satellites re- 

 volving around this earth, their arrival could not be more 

 surely calculated by an astronomer. Foul weather or fair, 

 heat or cold, the puffins repair to some of their stations as 

 regularly on a given day as if their movements were timed by 

 clock-work. Whether they have come from far or from near 

 we know not, but other birds certainly come from a great 

 distance, and yet they make their appearance with scarcely 

 less exactness. Nor is the regularity with which certain 

 species disappear much inferior ; every observer knows 

 how abundant the swift is up to the time of its leaving its 

 summer home, and how rarely it is seen after that time is 

 past. Yet all this, marvellous as it may seem, is far less 

 marvellous than the instinct, or whatever else we may call 

 it, which guides the birds in their voyages, and gives them 

 the power of directing their flight year after year to the 

 same spot. The solution is probably simple in the 

 extreme — possibly before our eyes at this moment if we 

 could but see it — but whosoever discovers it will assuredly 

 deserve to have his name remembered among those of the 

 greatest discoverers of this or any age. 



Alfred Newton 



COMPETITIVE EXAMINA TIONS 

 I N so universally substituting Competitive Examination 

 ■L for the much less perfect systems of patronage and 

 favouritism previously adopted for filling appointments 

 and distributing emoluments, no doubt the step has been 

 in the right direction ; but as with all novel systems, the 

 necessary details of its working have not been fully mas- 

 tered, and we have complaints, — such as from many 

 who have no other recommendations upon which to 

 make selections in scientific appointment, and from the 

 India Civil Service, — that the results a'e not, in the long 

 run, so successful as could be wished. Many of the objec- 

 tions which were at the outset thought to he insurmount- 

 able, have been proved to be insignificrint and reme- 

 diable ; whilst others, unforeseen and more difficult to 

 overcome, are daily becoming more and more con- 

 spicuous. 



The most impoitant of these obji rtions depends on the 

 fact that it is impossible, from the li^t of mcc s;ful can- 

 didates, even when they are clashed .according to the 

 number of marks they have obtained, to determine 

 whether they belong to the one or the other of two very 

 different qualities of mind. There are certain students 

 whose chief capacity consists of a very excellent memory 



