268 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 31, 1894. 



EUROPEAN SONG BIRDS IN AMERICA. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



At different times and in various sections of this country 

 numerous species of European singing birds have been 

 liberated for the purpose of acclimatization. The most 

 extensive and probably the most- systematic attempt in 

 this direction was carried out under the auspices of the 

 Cincinnati Acclimatization Society about twenty years 

 ago. In my capacity as secretary of the organization 

 named, I made a trip to Europe for the purpose of gather- 

 ing there a large number of birds presumably adapted to 

 our climates. To carry out in j mission properly, I found 

 it necessary to have the birds 1 rapped for the purpose, 

 since females are rarely kept alive and in captivity. The 

 birds thus collected, over three thousand in number, and 

 made up of over forty different species, arrived in good 

 condition at Cincinnati in the latter part of December. 

 They were comfortably quartered in the upper story of 

 the 'old Burnett mansion, in Burnett Woods Park. A 

 small portion of them were acquired by Mr. Carl Danzer, 

 the well-known German editor, at St. Louis, Mo. , and in 

 due season were liberated by him near St. Louis. The 

 rest and mass of them were set free in Burnett Woods 

 Park the following spring. Some of the birds immedi- 

 ately started for parts unknown, others left the next days 

 and weeks, but quite a number were seen all summer 

 in Burnett Woods, Spring Grove Cemetery, and other 

 suburban points. When the autumn and the migratory 

 season came, all of those which had remained near Cin- 

 cinnati until then departed never to return again; only 

 the skylarks came back the next and every subsequent 

 spring and multiplied. Their acclimatization was accom- 

 plished. 



Now what has become of the other birds? This has 

 ever since been a much discussed question, and no definite 

 explanation could thus far be advanced. Some were and 

 still are of the opinion that the birds had been shot by 

 pot-hunters or devoured by birds of prey, others cher- 

 ished the belief that the more tender species had fallen 

 victims to our changeable and rough climate during the 

 winter, and others held that the birds probably had 

 sought and found suitable quarters in various distant 

 parts of the country, where they have attracted no par- 

 ticular attention and are not recognized as foreigners. 

 All these theories are justly open to question, none of 

 them have been proved conclusively or convincingly. 

 Only one thing appears to be certain, the birds are lost, 

 apparently lost for good, the same as those liberated for a 

 similar purpose previously and subsequently. 



A short time ago Heinrich Gatke's work, "Die Vogel- 

 warte Helgoland'' (The Ornithological Observatory of 

 Heligoland), made its appearance in Germany, which 

 offers us an entirely new explanation for the probable 

 fate of the lost birds. Gatke has lived fifty-three years 

 on the island in the North Sea and has devoted a lifetime 

 to the study of the migration of birds. He is a thorough 

 ornithologist, a lover of nature in general and birds ""in 

 particular, a scientist and sportsman. He has carefully 

 watched the movements and life of the birds as they in- 

 habit Heligoland and as they pass by millions every spring 

 and autumn over the rocky little island. Never before 

 has the nomadic life of the feathered wanderers been so 

 exhaustively and interestingly pictured and described as 

 in Gatke's work. 



During the migrating seasons, in especially dark nights 

 or on stormy days, Heligoland is found literally covered 

 with millions of different species of wandering birds. 

 Millions and millions pass the island unnoticed and un- 

 seen because, as Gatke has established, most birds rise, 

 when they migrate, to very high regions of the air, from 

 10,000 to 15,000ft. above ground, probably for the reason 

 that thus they meet with less resistance of the air and 

 their flight is thereby facilitated. He also proves very 

 conclusively that the young birds never depend on their 

 parents to guide them on their first travel to distant parts 

 of the world. The young commence the journey from 

 one to two weeks in advance of the old birds and return 

 about as much later again in the spring. The old male 

 birds are the last to leave their summer abodes, the first 

 to return. 



According to Gatke's observations, all the birds gener- 

 ally make their journey in the spring in a course south to 

 north, but they do not travel in a direction north to south 

 in the autumn. In the latter event the majority of birds 

 proceed first in a westerly direction. The birds, for in- 

 stance, inhabiting in the summer the northern part of 

 Germany, Russia as far as Asia, Norway and Sweden, 

 migrate westward, cross the Baltic or North Sea bound 

 for England and Ireland, from where they make a sharp 

 turn by way of Gibraltar to Africa. Very few of them 

 stay over winter on British soil. 



Gatke has paid considerable attention to the speed of 

 flight of migrating birds. His figures in the premises are 

 partly based upon direct observation, partly upon calcula- 

 tions. He gives the speed of flight of crows, when trav- 

 eling across the North Sea, at 135 miles an hour. The 

 northern blue-breasted robin, a bird of the size' of our 

 common bluebird, makes the journey from central Africa 

 to Heligoland in one single night, requiring a speed of 

 travel at the rate of 225 miles per hour. But even this 

 remarkable speed is surpassed by a species of the plover 

 family, which inhabits Labrador in summer and takes up 

 its winter quarters in Brazil. This bird crosses the 

 Atlantic Ocean without stopping on its way on any of the 

 islands found on its route of travel. 



Instinct evidently plays a very important role in the 

 migration of birds. Let us take the northern blue-breasted 

 robin as an example. The young bird rises at sunset for 

 its distant journey. It continues its travel all night and 

 approaches and touches the ground again in the morning. 

 In one night it has crossed Germany, the Alps, and at 

 daybreak it finds itself in southern Italy. Here it rests 

 during the day and when the sun sets again, the journey 

 is resumed. On the second morning it has reached its 

 destination, never known or seen before, the bird has 

 arrived in central Africa and takes its second breakfast 

 among a forest of palm trees. 



Now, returning to the lost European birds as liberated 

 in this country, we will, as we justly may, suppose that 

 these birds were influenced with the same natural 

 instinct which governs their migration at home. In 

 searching for warm climates in winter they would take 

 the same westerly course as if they had begun the -jour- 

 ney in their native lands. They very likely have chosen 

 the route to Africa via England and Ireland. To reach 

 these countries they would have to cross the North Sea 



Their instinct teaches them this. Arriving at the Pacific 

 coast they would likely and naturally take the ocean 

 before them to be the North Sea. They start to cross 

 this sea. They fly hundreds of miles and find no sign 

 of land. They become bewildered, but they continue 

 the journey as long as their power holds out. But this 

 power is not equal to the emergency. They cannot reach 

 the land on the other side. Completely exhausted and no 

 longer able to fly they drop one by one into the water of 

 the Pacific Ocean. They are drowned, lost. No one has 

 witnessed their last struggle. No one can chronicle their 

 fate from actual observation. Thousands of birds perish 

 annually in a similar way on their way to Africa, princi- 

 pally such as the European quail and other poor flyers. 



May be that this new explanation for the fate of the 

 imported birds too narrows down to a vague theory, but 

 it certainly is based on a pretty fair possibility, and those 

 who can study Gatke's work, and digest his observations 

 and conclusions, will, I think, agree with me, that we 

 have some reason to suppose that the European birds are 

 buried in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. 



Armin Tenner. 



• SEA SERPENT, SO-CALLED. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In your issue of Feb. 3, under the heading, "Exit the 

 Sea Serpent," I see that A. N. Cheney denies the probabil- 

 ity of the existence of the sea serpent, and also quotes 

 from an article by Dr. Jordan, in a California newspaper, 

 the following: "Although there have been many reports 

 of sea serpents, there is not, at present, the slightest posi- 

 tive evidence that such a creature now inhabits the sea. 

 It is not within the realm of probability that any marine 

 reptile of large size, other than sea turtles, now exists. 

 The sea has been as fully explored as the land; the fishes 

 of the sea, from the surface to the depth of five miles, are 

 as well known as the animals of similar size on any of 

 the Continents, except Europe. The larger animals, 

 which swim near the. surface in the open ocean, are for 

 the most part well known, and have been known ever 

 since oceanic navigation began. Probably not half a 

 dozen marine animals reaching a length of 15ft. have 

 been discovered in our century; most of those now known 

 were known to the ancients." 



In order that both sides of the question may have a fair 

 chance, and that the sea serpent may not be included in 

 the modern slaughter of animal life, I present the follow- 

 ing criticism on Dr. Jordan's article, and also some of the 

 evidence that leads me to believe that some sort of a sea 

 serpent exists. 



Dr. Jordan is right when he says there have been many 

 reports of the sea serpent. Here are a few of them: 



Capt. the Hon. George Hope states that when in H. M. S. 

 Fly, in the Gulf of California, the sea being perfectly 

 cairn, he saw at the bottom a large marine animal with 

 the head and general form of an alligator, except that the 

 neck was much longer, and that instead of legs, the 

 creature had four large flappers, somewhat like those of a 

 turtle, the anterior pair being larger than the posterior; 

 the creature was distinctly visible, and all its movements 

 could be observed with ease; it appeared to be pursuing 

 its prey at the bottom of the sea. Its movements were 

 somewhat serpentine, and an appearance of annulations, 

 or ring-like divisions of the body, was distinctly per- 

 ceptible. 



Capt. Hope was not acquainted with the fossil remains 

 of lchythyosauri and Pleiosauri, the forms of which were 

 very similar to the creature he saw. Again, we have the 

 following from Holder's "Marvels of Animal Life:" 



Lynn, Mass., June 26, 1881.— Mr. C. F, Solder, Dear Sir: Yours of 

 the 24th inst. came duly to hand, and in reply to that part of it relat- 

 ing to the account given by myself of a strange fish, serpent, or some 

 other marine animal, called a sea serpent, 1 have to say that I saw him 

 on a pleasant, calm summer morning of August. 1819, from Long 

 Beacu Lynn, now Nahant. At this time he was about a quarter of a 

 mile away; but the water was so smooth, that I could plainly see his 

 head and the motions of his body; but not distinctly enough to give a 

 good description of him. Later in the day I saw him again off Ked 

 Bock; he then passed along about 100ft. from where I stood, with 

 head about 2ft. out of the water, and his speed was about the ordinary 

 of a common steamer. What I saw of his length was from 50 to 60ft. 

 It was very difficult to count the bunches, or humps (not fins; upon 

 his back, as by the undulatory motion they did not all appear at once. 

 This accounts in part for the varied descriptions given of him by 

 different parties. His appearance on the surface of the water was 

 occasional and but for a short time; the color of his skin was dark, 

 differing but little from the water, or the back of any common fish. 

 This is the best description I can give of him from my own observa- 

 tion, and I saw the monster just as truly, although not quite so clearly 

 as I ever saw anything. This matter has been treated by many as a 

 hoax, fish story, or a sea-side phenomenon, to bring trade to the 

 watering places; but notwithstanding all this, there is no doubt in my 

 mind that some kind of an uncommon rover in tke form of a snake, 

 or serpent, called an ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus, or some other long- 

 named marine animal, has been seen by hundreds of men and boys in 

 our own, if not in other waters; and five persons besides myself, Amos 

 Lawrence. Samuel Cabot and James Prince of Boston, Benjamin P. 

 Newhall of Sangus, and John Marston of Swampscott, bore public 

 testimony of seeing him at the time. Yours truly, Nathan D. Chase. 



James Prince says he saw the sea serpent off Nahant 

 Beach, and that a great crowd of people was present and 

 saw the animal; he says that he counted thirteen, bunches 

 on its back, although his family thought there were 

 fifteen. He drove along the beach following the creature 

 and watching him with his glass. 



Another example of what might be called expert testi- 

 mony is furnished by the crew of the bark Pauline, of 

 London. Their testimony was taken before the stipen- 

 diary magistrate of the Liverpool Court as follows: 



"Borough of Liverpool, in the county of Palatine of Lan- 

 caster, to wit: We, the undersigned captain, officers and 

 crew of the bark Pauline, of London, of Liverpool, in the 

 county of Lancaster, in the United Kingdom of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, do voluntarily and sincerely declare 

 that on July 8, 1875, in latitude 5° 13' S., longitude 35° 

 W., we observed three large sperm whales, and one of 

 them was gripped around the body with two turns of 

 what appeared to be a huge serpent. The head and tail 

 appeared to have a length beyond the coils of about 30ft. 

 and its girth about 8 or 9ft. The serpent whirled its 

 victim round and round for about fifteen minutes and 

 then suddenly dragged the whale to the bottom head 

 first. [Signed] George Drevar, master; Horatio Thomp- 

 son, John Henderson Landells, Owen Baker, William 

 Lewaren." 



How any one can pronounce these reports false is more 

 than I can understand; if they are not positive evidence 

 they are very near to it, too near to be thrown out as 

 false. The time has come for such reports from men of 

 good character to be received with respect and serious 

 consideration. That it is "within the realm of prob- 

 ability that any marine reptile other than sea turtles now 

 exists" the following evidence will show: 



Take the squid, for instance. The stories of a squid 

 large enough to capsize a boat, or pull a man out of one, 

 were formerly all set down as false. How is it now? In 

 the Peabody Museum of Yale College, can be seen a model 

 of a squid about 40ft. long, made by Prof. Verrill after 

 actual parts which he was able to procure. Individuals 

 have been taken over 60ft. long, and they are known to 

 have attacked the natives of the Indian Seas, when out in 

 their canoes. 



The tile fish wa3 unknown to either fishermen, or 

 science up to 1879; its discovery was entirely accidental. 

 Captain Kirby, of the schooner Wm. V. Hutchings, while 

 trawling for cod, southward of Nantucket, took 5,0001bs. 

 of a species of fish which we had never seen before. 

 This fish was found by Prof. Verrill to inhabit a strip of 

 water having a temperature of 48° F., and lying on the 

 border of the Gulf Stream slope; sandwiched between the 

 Arctic current on the one hand, and the cold depths of 

 the sea on the other. 



In the months of March and April, 1883, vessels crossing 

 this belt of water, reported seeing the sea covered for 

 miles with dead fish, which afterward proved to be the 

 tile fish. Captain Collins, of the schooner NavarinOj 

 plowed through 150 miles of water, dotted as far as the 

 eye could reach with these fish ; he made a careful com- 

 putation and found that their numbers must have ex- 

 ceeded the number of one million. The fish were prob- 

 ably killed by a change in the temperature of the water 

 they inhabited. 



Here, then, are two recent discoveries; one of a large 

 creature and the other of a smaller, but very numerous 

 one, that escaped our attention until a short time ago. 

 Many more such could be cited. They seem to me to be 

 good evidence that a creature such as the sea serpent 

 could exist until the present date, without being also 

 captured. 



Newman says that "Negative evidence alone is an un- 

 safe basis for argument against the existence of unknown 

 animals," as the following will show: During the deep 

 sea dredgings of H. M. S. Lightening, Porcupine and 

 Challenger, many new species of mollusca and others 

 which had been supposed to have been extinct ever since 

 the chalk, were brought to light, and by deep sea trawl- 

 ings of the last-mentioned ship there have been brought 

 up from great depths fishes of unknown species and which 

 could not exist near the surface owing to the rupture of 

 their air bladders when removed from the pressure of 

 deep waters. 



Gosse mentions that the ship in Which he made the 

 voyage to Jamaica was surrounded in the north Atlantic 

 for seventeen continuous hours by a troop of whales of 

 large size, of an undescribed species, which on no other 

 occasion had fallen under scientific observation. Unique 

 specimens of other cetaceans are also recorded. 



Bartlett directs our attention to the fact that even on 

 land there exists one of the largest mammals, probably 

 in a thousand, of which only one individual has been 

 brought to notice, viz., the hairy-eared, two-horned rhi- 

 noceros (R, lasiotis), now in the Zoological Gardens, 

 London. It was captured in 1869 at Chittagong, India, 

 where for years collectors and naturalists have worked 

 and published lists of animals met with, and yet no knowl- 

 edge of this great beast had ever before been obtained, nor 

 is there any portion of one in any museum. Newman ar- 

 rives at the conclusion that to assume that naturalists 

 have perfect cognisance of every existing marine ani- 

 mal of large siz°, would be quite unwarrantable. He 

 says: "It appears to me more than probable that many 

 marine animals Unknown to science, and some of them of 

 gigantic size, may have their ordinary habitat in the sea 

 and only occasionally come to the surface; and I think 

 that it is not impossible that amotig them may be marine 

 snakes of greater dimensions than we are aware of, and 

 even a creature having close affinities with the old. sea 

 reptiles whose fossil skeletons tell of their magnitude and 

 abundance in past ages." Newman's opinion is that the 

 closest affinities of the sea serpent would be found to be 

 the Enaliosaurans, or marine lizards, whose fossil remains 

 are abundant in the Oolite and the Lias; and on this point 

 Gosse agrees with him. 



Agassiz said, eoncerning this point: "It would be in 

 precise conformity with analogy that such an animal of 

 the Enaliosaufan type should exist in American seas, as 

 I have found numerous instances in which the fossil 

 forms of the Old World were represented by living types 

 in the New." 



Dr. J. E. Gray, late of the British Museum, a strict 

 zoologist, is cited by Gosse as having long ago expressed 

 his opinion that some undescribed form exists, which is 

 intermediate between the tortoises and the serpents, and 

 he (Gosse) sums up the English evidence of the sea serpent 

 as follows: "Carefully comparing the independent narra- 

 tives of the English witnesses of known character and 

 position, most of them being officers under the Crown, we 

 have a creature possessing the following characteristics: 

 (1) The general form of a Berpent; (2) great length, say 

 above 60ft, ; (3) head considered to resemble that of a ser- 

 pent; (4) neck from 13 to 16in. in diameter; (5) appendages 

 on the head, neck or back resembling a crest or mane 

 (considerable discrepancy in details); (6) color, dark brown 

 or green, streaked or spotted with white; (7) swims at the 

 surface of the water with a rapid or slow movement, the 

 head and neck projected and elevated above the surface; 

 (8) progression steady and uniform, the body straight, but 

 capable of being thrown in convolutions; {9) spouts in the 

 manner of a whale; (10) like a long 'nun buoy.' " 



Dr. Jordan states that the sea has been as fully explored 

 as the land. Well, it may have been; but that is not say- 

 ing very much for our actual knowledge of its vast hordes 

 of life, when we consider the limited means we have for 

 exploring the sea. If its inhabitants are not obliging 

 enough to come to the surface, and let us view them 

 there, then we have only the dredge left as a means of 

 forcing our acquaintance upon them, and how uncertain 

 that is. A prominent member of the U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion, who has had long experience in dredging, told me 

 that he thought he would have as much chance to dredge 

 up a trilobite, or a sea serpent, as he would to obtain a 

 buffalo skull by dragging an anchor over the plains from 

 a balloon. Yet, he hoped to live to see the day when a 

 trilobite and a sea serpent would somehow be caught. 



Finally, there is no biological, zoological, or geological 

 reason why a modern sea serpent should not have come 

 down to us from any of the old sea serpent stocks. 



We have the king crab as such a descendant from the 

 pre-Cambrian tribolite stock, the Lepidosiren, Protop- 

 terus Ceratodus and Polypterus from the Devonian 



