MIGRATORY BIRDS. 
IN the New World the birds of the 
temperate zone are rather perplex- 
ing in their migratory habits. Many 
of those which go north to Canada 
and Alaska in the summer pass the 
winter in Mexico, Panama, and even 
South Columbia; while others, as well 
as a number of migrants from the 
United States, go over to the West 
Indias. One of the most wonderful in- 
stances of migration is that of the tiny 
flame-breasted humming-bird (Selas- 
phorus rufus), which breeds on the west 
coast of America as far north as Alaska 
and Bering Island, and winters in Lower 
California and Mexico. Thus, with un- 
erring instinct, this diminutive bird, 
scarcely two inches long, flies twice a 
year the astounding distance of over 
3,000 miles. The birds which belong 
to the second class — those which breed 
in the Arctic regions — comprise the 
swans, many of the waders, and a con- 
siderable number of ducks and geese. 
In Europe these birds spend the win- 
ter in all the countries from England 
south to the Mediterranean and Black 
seas, some even going as far south as 
the upper reaches of the Nile. In 
Asia most of the waders, such as snipe, 
woodcock, sandpipers, and plovers, as 
well as the ducks and the geese, spend 
the winter in India and South China. 
In America the Arctic birds migrate to 
the Southern United States and Mex- 
ico. 
The partial migrants, which form the 
third class, are rather more puzzling in 
their movements, for among them we 
find birds whose motives for wandering 
are very diverse. Some are unwilling 
slaves — i. e., they get mixed up in the 
big flights of true migratory birds, and 
are irresistibly hurried along with 
them; such are the rooks, starlings, 
robins, etc., which are so frequently 
seen in Heligoland in the midst of a 
flock of swallows, warblers, and other 
genuine migrants. Another lot of these 
partial migrants are those which, per- 
haps, most justly deserve this name; 
viz., such birds as larks, pipits, titmice, 
etc., which, although resident with us 
all the year round, at times greatly 
diminish in numbers, owing to more 
than half the individuals changing their 
abode. For instance, those which 
breed in Scotland and England wander 
in the winter over to France, but, un- 
like the true migrant, always leave 
some of their number behind. — Walter 
Rothschild, The Nineteenth Century. 
HOW BIRDS CARRY SEEDS. 
DR. HOWARD, the new secre- 
tary of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement 
of Science, writing of the man- 
ner in which seeds are carried to a 
great distance by birds, recited an ex- 
periment of Darwin, which had a curi- 
ous result. Adhering to the leg of a 
wounded partridge, Darwin found a 
ball of earth weighing six and a half 
ounces. From the seeds contained in 
this ball he raised thirty-two plants be- 
longing to five distinct species. 
THE SHIP OF THE DESERT. 
TH E pack camel travels very 
slowly, and until you are suffi- 
ciently reconciled to the motion 
to be able to doze on its back, 
you are constantly tempted to get off 
and walk. If you want speed, you must 
buy a racing camel. This seems to be- 
long to a different creation. It is much 
taller, more alert and more intelligent. 
It can accomplish 150 miles in sixteen 
hours without undue effort, and, in the 
matter of price, compares with the pack 
camel as the thoroughbred does with 
the cab horse. 
