in 1780, the swallow make its appearance at Argentiera. The wind had been several days to the north-east, but in the night it had shifted to the west, the sky was serene and the sun hot."
"Becaficos arrive in September. The island of Malta is a resting-place for these little birds, as well as for other species, such as quails, &c. Their passage into that island is suspended when the west and north-west winds blow, and they arrive there only with those from the east and south-east."
Mr. Swainson, in the preface to his 'Birds of Western Africa,' tells us, "that the island of Sicily, during the spring and autumnal migrations, may be considered like a vast preserve of quails and numerous other migratory birds."
However, it would appear that the warblers do possess much greater powers of flight than are commonly attributed to them. A remarkable instance of this is given by the Prince of Musignano, Charles Lucien Bonaparte. "A few days ago," says he, "being five hundred miles from the coasts of Portugal, four hundred from those of Africa, we were agreeably surprised by the appearance of a few swallows (Hirundo urbica and rustica). This, however extraordinary, might have been explained by an easterly gale, which might have cut off migrating from the main to Madeira, only two hundred miles distant from us; but what was my surprise in observing several small warblers hopping about the deck and rigging. These poor little strangers, exhausted as they were, were soon caught and brought to me. The following is a list of the species:—1. Sylvia Trochilus.2. S. Erithacus, Lath. (Tithys, Temm.)3. S. Suecica, or rather a similar species which I have already received from Egypt and Barbary.4. A species of Anthus."— 'On board the Delaware, March 20.'[1] See also 'The Zoologist,' (Zool. 15) for some interesting observations by Mr. Hewitson.
I have even heard of the death's-head hawk-moth, whose capability of flight is much more questionable, flying on board ship at a considerable distance from land.W.R. Hall Jordan.
17, South Parade, Fulham Road,
August 3, 1843.
- ↑ Time's Telescope for 1834, p. 129.
