322 
BLUE-BIRD. 
theless a fact that it is performed. If we suppose the Blue-bird 
in this case to fly only at the rate of a mile per minute, which 
is less than I have actually ascertained him to do over land, ten 
or eleven hours would be sufficient to accomplish the journey; 
besides the chances he would have of resting places by the way, 
from the number of vessels that generally navigate those seas. 
In like manner two days at most, allowing for numerous stages 
for rest, would conduct him from the remotest regions of Mexico 
to any part of the Atlantic states. When the natural history of 
that part of the continent and its adjacent isles, are better known, 
and the periods at which its birds of passage arrive and depart, 
are truly ascertained, I have no doubt but these suppositions 
will be fully corroborated. 
