Page:The Migration of Birds - Thomas A Coward - 1912.pdf/135

Rh exactly on the last day of the last quarter of the moon—the darkest night for travel. A bank of fog and drizzle met them off the Irish coast, and baffled and weary they were attracted by the lights, not only on the coast but in the inland towns they passed.

In the main 1 think Mr Barrington's explanation is correct, but even if the birds were gathered farther west than usual, which I doubt, it was the north-east wind which had drifted them, and the word "decided" is a bold one to use when dealing with the behaviour of birds. Easterly winds would drift them westward, and the striking Ireland was accidental; it was the safety of the many, as well as the deathblow to the comparative few, On the night of the 31st. I received news of this visitation, and later found that similar movements, without disaster, were noticed on the north coast of Wales and in Cheshire. On the nights of the 30th and 3lst birds in large numbers passed over Bangor and the Menai Straits; amongst them were golden plover, and the next day these birds with fieldfares and redwings were more abundant than before in the mid-Cheshire fields. 011 the night of April 2nd, from dusk to midnight, a large passage occurred over Mere in Cheshire, where curlew, golden plover, oyster-catcher and wild duck were recognised by their calls, and at the same time a passage was