The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-01-16
BIRD sTowAwAYg ApvENrUREg.
Make the Ocean Passage on Atlantic

ciety's officials were apprised of the
 fact that a box containing a bird was
 awaiting delivery to them. and the
 mysterious stranger, turned out. on
 receipt and inspection. to be a speci-
 men of the American bittern (Botaurus
 lentiginsus), which had been captured
 on board a ship in the Atlantic 800
 miles from Philadelphia, says F. Finn,
 F. 2. S., deputy superintendent Indian
 Museum. This is not the first time
 that birds captured very far from land
 have found a home in Regents Park.
 But the present instance is peculiarly
 interesting in that it amply justifies
 surmise of one of our most judicious
 ornithologists.
 The American bittern. paradoxical
 as the fact may appear, was first known as an English bird. As long ago as 1894 there was killed in Dorsetshire a bittern which was recognized by the
 great ornithologist, Col. Mentagu as of
 a different species from our European
 bird (botaurus stelloris). It was small Ter and more slender, more fienly mot tied over most of it's plumage, but had the quills plain drab instead of the us-
 ual cinnamon with black bands. Of course, it was duly named, but not so very, long afterward it was found that this kind of bittern was the ordinary bittern in America, where the common bittern does not occur.
 Ever since then American bitterns have been in the habit of casually looking in upon us from time to time, and in a most hattering way they have refused to visit any other part of Eu- rope but the British dominions. More over, their visits are so timed as al- ways to take place between October and February.
 Now, as the period agrees with the time of the American bittern's migra- tions, and our islands are the first land are birds are likely to reach in an At lantic passage, it has occurred to our great authority on British birds, Ho- ward Saunders to suggest the theory of assisted passages across the Allan tic for these immigrants. There is so much trade between the States and
 ourselves that weary bird would have little difficulty in finding a snap and once aboard 1t would merely have to l possess its soul in patience till the time came to go ashore.
 The number of birds adrift at sea, however, impresses everyone who has gone on many voyages in waterse more when the imigrations are in full swing The voyage to India and back is one which is certain to produce some epi- sode in the way of bird passengers, often of great interest.
 During the several experiences of this
 passage I have met with birds which one certainly would not have expected
 to see over salt water, and have ob- served one or two most interesting
 stowaWays. Of the out-of- -the-way
 birds I may particularly mention the
 night jar. Of course, everyone knows
 the bird goes south in autumn, but as
 1t is creature of the night, one natur-
 ally expects it to travel at that time
 especially as so large 2 proportion of
 the birds of day are addicted to
 moonlight fiittering'' when on trek
 So that night jar at sea is very
 surprising sight, and at no time does
 one get Q better view of this beautifully
 mottled moth hunter than when he
 flies round a ship in broad daylight,
 almost brushing it with his wings. His
 visit, however, is usually literally a
 flying one, and I have never known a
 night jar to stay any time on board or
 let itself be caught there, though show
 ing at he time remarkable little fear of
 man. But one or two cases of bird passen-
 gers with which closer acquaintance
 has been possible have occurred to me at different time, accompanied by cir
 cumstances of unusual interest.
 In my first voyage abroad--more
 than 10 years ago-I was surprised and pleased by the appearance on board of a gray shrike, very similar to our winter visitor at home, though not quite identical
 This bird joined us in the Red Sea two days after we had left Suez and so tanned by exhaustion was he that, having at the time no suitable cage, let him roost all night on one of the brass fittings of my cabin porthole. Next day he took a cockroach from my fingers, and did not draw the line at one only of this highly favored deli- cacy; so that had no difficulty about his food, and was able on the following doy to exhibit him to our sympathetic skipper seated on my finger and de- vouring his orthopterous repast as hap oily as if on his native bush.
 He still at this time seemed weak on the wing, but. by the time we. had got to Alden he had quite recovered and felt able to try his luck again, for the day after leaving this port he squeezed through the bars of the cage which the
 carpenter had constructed for him, and flew out of the saloon skylight, disdain- | ing the cockroach had profered to lure him back.
 For little while he stayed in the rig ging to shake out his plunage and con- sider his route, and then headed for land, which I sincerely hope he reached, though it was about 60 miles off. He had, at all events, scored his passage
 down the Red Sea.
 The second stowaway I have to re- cord was the last I have met and the most remarkable. As the P. and o. steamer Japan left Colombo Harbor on her homeward voyage, last December, crow, which perched in the rigging, was hungrily watching the cook cutting in some meat was carried oJt to saa