Abstract
IT is naturally difficult to obtain direct evidence as to how birds rid themselves of the indigestible parts of the fruit they eat. It is a question to which I have given some attention from its bearing on the dispersal of seeds. I have found large quantities of the seeds of hawthorn, dog-rose, mistletoe, and ivy evidently voided by birds, as I incline to think generally as fæces, especially in the case of the hawthorn and ivy. Some large bird, I suppose the rook, consumes ivy berries largely in the spring, and gets rid of the seeds in what appears to be a mass of excrementitio us matter. Many of these have not lost their vitality, and germinate readily in the same season. I have some thriving ivy plants obtained from such seed sown in 1896, and numerous seedlings this year of similar origin, the seed being sown on April 28, and coming up on June 7. I do not think much stress need be laid on the fact that much of the fruit swallowed is voided undigested, though the mistle-seeds I found were in a mass something like a lump of frog-spawn, with much of the pulp of the berry still adhering to each seed. I fancy birds and beasts, like many human beings, frequently swallow greedily far more than is good for them, especially when they light upon an abundant supply after enforced abstinence. An observant farmer informs me that horses coming in hungry to the manger will, if allowed, swallow corn more rapidly than they can digest it, if the grains are supplied whole, and that a large proportion passes in a condition to germinate. For this reason he has it crushed before given to them, I could supply Mr. Bennett or Mr. Lowe with some other curious evidence on this question if they care to have it, and will send their address.
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LANGLEY, E. Birds and Poisonous Fruit. Nature 59, 149 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/059149g0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/059149g0
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