148 MEANS OF DISPEKSAL. [Chap. XII. 



ridge, and in the earth there was a pebble as large as 

 the seed of a vetch. Here is a better case : the leg of a 

 woodcock was sent to me by a friend, with a little cake 

 of dry earth attached to the shank, weighing only nine 

 grains ; and this contained a seed of the toad-rush 

 (Juncus bufonius) which germinated and flowered. Mr. 

 Swaysland, of Brighton, who during the last forty years 

 has paid close attention to our migratory birds, informs 

 me that he has often shot wagtails (Motacillae), wheat- 

 ears, and whinchats (Saxicolse), on their first arrival on 

 our shores, before they had alighted ; and he has several 

 times noticed little cakes of earth attached to their feet. 

 Many facts could be given showing how generally soil 

 is charged with seeds. For instance, Prof. Newton sent 

 me the leg of a red-legged partridge (Caccabis rufa) 

 which had been wounded and could not fly, with a ball 

 of hard earth adhering to it, and weighing six and a half 

 ounces. The earth had been kept for three years, but 

 when broken, watered and placed under a bell glass, 

 no less than 82 plants sprung from it : these consisted 

 of 12 monocotyledons, including the common oat, and 

 at least one kind of grass, and of 70 dicotyledons, which 

 consisted, judging from the young leaves, of at least 

 three distinct species. With such facts before us, can 

 we doubt that the many birds which are annually 

 blown by gales across great spaces of ocean, and 

 which annually migrate — for instance, the millions of 

 quails across the Mediterranean — must occasionally 

 transport a few seeds embedded in dirt adhering to 

 their feet or beaks ? But I shall have to recur to this 

 subject. 



As icebergs are known to be sometimes loaded with 

 earth and stones, and have even carried brushwood, 



