13 
on the migration of birds. 
Newfoundland, saw, on the 20th of May, the hobby hawk. 
It came on board, and was secured The day following a 
swallow came on board. At this time the ship was steering 
a course direct for that island, and was not within the dis- 
tance of an hundred leagues of any land. His brother, the 
Reverend G. C. Jenner, in crossing the Atlantic, observed 
an owl (of what species he could not precisely ascertain, but 
he believes it to be the common brown owl ) gliding over the 
ocean with as much apparent ease as if it had been seeking 
for a mouse among its native fields.* Wild geese have fre- 
quently been shot in Newfoundland, whose crops were plen- 
tifully stored with maize, or indian corn ; consequently, these 
birds must have taken a pretty bold flight in a short space of 
time, as no corn of this kind is cultivated within a vast dis- 
tance of that island. These, however, I do not consider as 
migrations of any farther consequence, than just to show the 
powers of the wing. 
My ingenious friend and neighbour, the late Reverend 
Nathaniel Thornbury, who had occasionally visited Hol- 
land, informed me, that the pigeons about the Hague make a 
daily marauding excursion, at certain seasons, to the oppo- 
site shore of Norfolk, to feed on vetches, a distance of forty 
leagues. Now, may not this be almost considered as daring 
a flight as that of the bird which crosses the Atlantic ? For it 
* Mr. Jenner informs me, that in subsequent voyages he has taken, in the 
Atlantic, several hundred miles from land, the nuthatch, hoopoe, and snipe ; and 
has often seen small birds of the linnet kind. Of the latter, a large flock came on 
board^qperched on the rigging, appeared very lively, and after adjusting their 
plumage, and chirping in concert for a few minutes, took their flight in a direction 
for the Azores. 
