XX 
THORNS 
265 
Such seeds are scarcely likely to remain long enough in 
the gizzard to allow their transference from Italy to 
Uganda. Darwin’s interesting experiment of raising 
eighty-two plants from seeds casually mixed in a ball of 
earth on the leg of a partridge is more to the point. It 
is easily conceivable, when we reflect that many 
European birds regularly migrate to the Ethiopian 
Region in the winter. European birds, such as storks, 
cranes, cuckoos, nightjars, ducks, pigeons, quails, and 
swallows are common. It is scarcely doubtful that 
seed-containing mud, acquired by the feet and beaks of 
birds in the fields and pastures of Southern Europe, is 
conveyed by these swift messengers. When such mud 
is deposited in districts where the climatic conditions 
are favourable, the seeds it contains germinate and 
reproduce their kind. 
It is an established fact that birds find their way 
from Europe into Africa. It has been proved 
experimentally. When Slatin was the prisoner of the 
Kalifa in Khartoum (1883-1895) a crane was killed at 
Dongola. This bird had a cartridge case on its neck 
containing two small papers .with an inscription, 
written in German, French, English, and Russian, 
stating that the bird had been brought up on an estate 
in South Russia. The Kalifa, thinking it might be 
secret intelligence, had Slatin brought into his presence 
to translate the writins^. After the matter had been 
explained to the Kalifa, he regarded it as “ one of the 
many devilries of those unbelievers who waste their 
time in such useless nonsense.” 
Moore, J. E. S. The Tanganyika Problem. London, 190*2. 
Roosevelt, T. .“ African Game Trails,” ScribneTs 
Magazine. 1910. XLVIIL, 20. 
Schweinfurth ... ... The Heart of Africa., 1868 to 1871. 
Schillings, C. G.“ With Flashlight and Rifle,” In Wildest 
Africa, 
