Page:Darwinism by Alfred Wallace 1889.djvu/381

 with the native productions. In other cases, as we have seen, facts of an exactly opposite nature occur. The rat, the pig, and the rabbit, the water-cress, the clover, and many other plants, when introduced into New Zealand, flourish exceedingly, and even exterminate their native competitors; so that in these cases we may feel sure that the species in question did not exist in New Zealand simply because they had been unable to reach that country by their natural means of dispersal. I will now give a few cases, in addition to those recorded in my previous works, of birds and insects which have been observed far from any land.

Captain D. Fullarton of the ship Timaru recorded in his log the occurrence of a great number of small land-birds about the ship on 15th March 1886, when in Lat. 48° 31' N., Long. 8° 16' W. He says: "A great many small land-birds about us; put about sixty into a coop, evidently tired out." And two days later, 17th March, "Over fifty of the birds cooped on 15th died, though fed. Sparrows, finches, water-wagtails, two small birds, name unknown, one kind like a linnet, and a large bird like a starling. In all there have been on board over seventy birds, besides some that hovered about us for some time and then fell into the sea exhausted." Easterly winds and severe weather were experienced at the time. The spot where this remarkable flight of birds was met with is about 160 miles due west of Brest, and this is the least distance the birds must have been carried. It is interesting to note that the position of the ship is nearly in the line from the English and French coasts to the Azores, where, after great storms, so many bird stragglers arrive annually. These birds were probably blown out to sea during their spring migration along the south coast of England to Wales and Ireland. During the autumnal migration, however, great flocks of birds—especially starlings, thrushes, and fieldfares—have been observed every year flying out to sea from the west coast of Ireland, almost the whole of which must perish. At the Nash Lighthouse, in the Bristol Channel on the coast of Glamorganshire, an enormous number of small birds were observed on 3d September,