222 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



the Tinamous found there have been introduced 

 from Chile. 



In Hawaii, too, the Kingfishers and Pigeons and 

 Parrots, which are elsewhere most widely spread 

 in the Pacific, are wanting, though a Chinese Turtle- 

 Dove {Turtur chinensis) has been successfully intro- 

 duced, as also has, an Australian Parraieet, the 

 Mealy Rosella {Platycercus ■pallidicefs), the original 

 stock in the latter case being but a single pair. 

 This being so, it is a great pity that a pair of the 

 common Belted Kingfisher of North America 

 (fieryle alcyon) were shot on arrival, as they might 

 also have found a footing, and this natural intro- 

 duction of a new form would have been most 

 interesting to watch. The irruption of even a 

 large number of new birds, however, does not neces- 

 sarily always mean success, as in the case of the 

 failure of the well-known repeated attempts of 

 hordes of Pallas's Sand-Grouse to colonize Western 

 Europe,, where they hatched young even with us. 



An interesting example of successful emigration, 

 and that by a bird which nowadays very rarely 

 migrates at all, is furnished by the career of the 

 Magpie, a bird whose unique and conspicuous 

 appearance and — ^where it is not persecuted — ^its 

 abundance and familiarity, have always made it 

 one of the best known of birds, as the many stories 

 and superstitions relating to it abundantly testify. 



It is very doubtful if this bird was known to the 

 ancient Greeks, for no species mentioned in their 

 writings can be definitely identified with it, unless 



