270 Seed-Carriers 



carried 500 miles before all the grain had passed out 

 of their crop, if they had just had a full meal. 



Supposing them to be blown overland, instead of 

 over sea, or to reach land after a few hours, they might 

 then be pounced on by the hawks, who are always on 

 the look-out for weary travellers. These, like the owls, 

 bolt their prey whole, and after some hours disgorge 

 pellets of feathers and other undesirable matter, among 

 which might be the seed in the crop of their victim, 

 still uninjured. This, indeed, is no mere speculation, 

 for it has been found by experiment that such pellets 

 do contain seeds, such as oats, wheat, hemp, millet, 

 clover, and canary-seeds ; all of which may be capable 

 of germination. Or again, a bird with seed in its crop 

 may be struck down by a hawk after flying some 

 considerable distance, and the hawk in its turn may 

 be driven away from its prey before it has done more 

 than tear the crop open. In this instance, too, the 

 seed may fall where it will be able to germinate, and 

 the plant may be able to establish itself; and though 

 such cases are exceptional, one single successful seed 

 is enough to introduce a plant to an entirely new 

 neighbourhood, where, under favourable circumstances, 

 it may spread and become completely naturalized. 



Seeds vary very much as to their power of resisting 

 digestion. Many are, for the most part, quite digested, 

 but there are others which are protected against 

 digestion by a covering so hard, or so tough, that it is 

 a real help to them to be swallowed, as they germinate 

 more readily when this covering has undergone some 

 amount of softening. 



Seeds, for instance, which are swallowed, not for 

 their own sake, but for the sweet flesh surrounding 



