pbesident's address. 175 



questions about birds which still remain very imperfectly under- 

 stood. The great subject, for instance, of their migrations. 



Another book about birds, " Siberia in Europe," by Mr. See- 

 bohm, a gentleman personally known to some of us, has been 

 largely read, and is exceedingly interesting. His special object 

 in his long and toilsome journey was to find the breeding places 

 of certain birds. In this he was very successful; but what I 

 wish to refer to at present is a portion of his book where he dis- 

 courses of the migration of birds. He seems to have a strong 

 disinclination to resort to instinct as the explanation of the phe- 

 nomena, but comes to the conclusion that the desire to migrate 

 is an ''hereditary impulse," which I should think is not very 

 different. But he thinks that the idea that the bird knows by 

 instinct where to go has no foundation in fact. He thinks each 

 bird must find out for itself, and as best it may, proper winter 

 quarters, and, I suppose, summer quarters also. But he says in 

 one page that at migration time birds congregate to have the ex- 

 perience of the veteran travellers, and on the next page he says, 

 " astounding as the fact is, it is nevertheless true, that the birds 

 of the year are the first to migrate, birds which of course have 

 not migrated before." This latter observation is in accordance 

 with the report of the Committee on this subject at the British 

 Association last year at York. Again, Mr. Seebohm seems to 

 argue that it is by their wonderful sight and memory of localities 

 that birds manage their migration ; but this explanation won't 

 meet the case of the birds of the year who have never travelled 

 nor had experience of the road before. But wonderful as is the 

 sight of a bird how far would this assist them in a journey of 

 thousands of miles ? 



A very popular amusement at present is the training and flying 

 of Homing Pigeons, and their return to theii' home is accom- 

 plished through their great powers of sight and recollection of 

 localities ; but this power is only calculated on for comparatively 

 reasonable distances. For instance, a bird which it is intended 

 shall be taught to find its way home to Newcastle from let us 

 say Peterboro', is not taken and flown at once from there, but is 

 first flown from a few miles distant, and is taught by being 



