Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/233

Rh man cannot very well do with his boasted intelligence, the bird cannot do, forgetting that there is no analogy to be drawn between the two cases. Where we find a race of creatures adapted for long flights, and which have undoubtedly for an enormous period of lime, twice in each year, been accustomed to migrate to and fro across the earth's surface, we may be well satisfied that they must possess in a high degree in their own special organisms the qualifications for the work—qualifications and powers which have altogether been lost or are merely latent in man himself Mr. Rowley says:—"Those who hold the opinion that birds migrate by instinct should read the convincing chapters on the way Indians travel through unknown forests (Wallace's 'Natural Selection,' p. 206, et seq.), which proves that man does not possess instinct, neither can any one find his way in an unknown forest. I contend, then, that what man with intelligence is unable to do, birds must fail to accomplish."

Now I repeat that there is no analogy between the two cases, and that even if it can be shown that man cannot find his way in an unknown region, which I very much doubt, it is really no argument against the bird or other animal not being sufficient for the purpose. Animals do find their way in some extraordinary manner, by a sort of intuitive instinct, which almost seems like a sixth sense. We have repeatedly, in our own experience, met with remarkable instances in domestic animals—cows taken from their calves, mares and horses from their foals or a favourite pasture, also with dogs taken long distances from home, even by rail—finding their way back again by an entirely new route, and across a perfectly unknown country. One remarkable case I remember of a young horse and mare swimming a great tidal river, or arm of the sea, several miles in width, to get back to their old quarters, which they succeeded in doing. By what power, instinct or intelligence they accomplished this I am unable to say, certainly not on the same principle as seeds are carried by ocean currents, or blown from field to field. Before setting forth on the migratory journey, birds often collect together in large flocks, the