Abstract
Migration of Birds-The Thresher and Whale IN crossing the Atlantic last September, when 900 miles distant from the nearest point of Newfoundland, two land birds settled on the ship, and after a short rest resumed their flight to the south-east, without partaking of the food which was scattered in various places for them. By the colour of their plumage and motion on the wing, I believe them to be a species of lark. It may well be asked whence did they come, and whither were they going over that vast space of ocean, with no restingplace nearer the continent than the Azores? How were they fed during their long journey, and what guided them on their course? for it is only reasonable to suppose they had come on a bee line from their starting point, and even then their muscular powers must have been severely taxed. It appears to me that naturalists are not in possession of the secret which enables birds of passage to go many days without food at a time when their system must be strained to its extreme limit of endurance.
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KIDDLE, W. Atlantic Notes . Nature 11, 234 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/011234a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/011234a0