COUNTRY LIFE
The Strangest Migration The strangest of all the recorded marvels of bird migration is carried a step further by the latest news from Skokholm, that " dream island " which begins to outrival even Heligo- land. It will be remembered that sheerwaters, caught in their nesting burrows on the island, were carried off to various parts of the world. The longest journey was to Venice. It was reported at the time that one of these two birds was back again in its old hole and home in Skokholm a fortnight later. The fact is actual though scarcely credible. The other bird could not be found at first, but a year later it was nesting again in its old hole with the same mate. There are very few birds which could afford " the vile body " of such an experiment. The sheerwater is not only very faithful to its home, it nests in a rather shallow and often short hole. When it is desired to study a particular bird, a turf can be lifted over the nest, and thereafter it serves as a lid removable at will. The bird can be taken out and ringed or inspected, and will (as I have seen) scuttle back to its home instantly. It is still unknown whether the birds, which gave witness of this amazing power of orientation and love of home, returned to their island by way of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, or came overland. The report that one had been seen on a Swiss lake proved erroneous. It is foolish and superfluous to moralise about birds ; but the fidelity to mate and home and the unerring knowledge of exact location of the home, even when separated by hundreds of miles of unknown sea or land—these compound a mystery to which all must pay the tribute of a reverent wonder.
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