Abstract
THE part taken by birds in the dispersion of plants is one of great interest in view of the dimculty of accounting for the appearance of certain species in remote islands, no less than in localities nearer to each other, or divided by such barriers as mountain-ranges or deep seas. This subject has, more or less, engaged the attention of botanical travellers from the time when Darwin published his classical “Journal of Researches,” nearly fifty years ago, down to the publication of Mr. Hemsley's “Botany of the Challenger Expedition,” Part I., which was issued as lately as last year. In the careful summary of plants probably distributed by birds, loc. cit. pp. 44-49, it is mentioned that seeds may be carried by birds in either of two ways. First, by seeds, especially those provided with barbs and hooks, attaching themselves to the feathers of birds, and, in the case of aquatic or burrowing birds, being embedded in mud and thus carried accidentally outside; or, secondly, by seeds swallowed by frugivorous birds being for a time lodged within, and dejected afterwards in such a state as to be capable of germination. My object now is not to treat generally of this subject, but to place on record two remarkable and striking instances where seeds carried and dispersed by birds have come immediately under my own observation. The examples which I shall here describe will, I believe, show clearly that birds are capable of acting as very effective agents in the dispersal of plants, and that the results are so apparent as to be placed beyond reasonable doubt.
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MORRIS, D. The Dispersion of Plants by Birds . Nature 35, 151–152 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/035151b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035151b0