It has been often observed, that birds, in the course of their flight from
one country to another, will frequently resort to the rigging of a ship, as
a resting-place in their transit across the wide ocean. Mr. Gray, in his
"Letters on Canada," gives the following instance:--Among the extraordinary
things, he observes, one meets with at sea, it is not one of the least
surprising to observe small _land birds_ several hundred miles from land. I
was sitting on deck, when, to my great surprise, my attention was arrested
by the warbling of a bird. I looked up, and saw a _linnet_ perched on the
rigging, and whistling with as much ardour as if on a bush in a green
meadow. It is not a little astonishing how these little birds should be
able to continue on the wing so long as is necessary to fly several
hundreds of miles, particularly when the usual shortness of their flight is
considered. They continue sometimes with a vessel several days, and are
frequently caught by the sailors; but it is remarked that they seldom live,
though every care is taken to give them proper food. When the vessel rolls
much, they find it difficult to retain their footing on the rigging, and
you see them forced, as it were, to resume their flight in search of a
better resting-place.