Page:The Migration of Birds - Thomas A Coward - 1912.pdf/146

122 Birds may be carried on ship-board When the "Mauretania" was between 400 and 500 miles out from New York, bound eastward on June 15th, 1911, a Curlew came on board and remained for three days, leaving when the Irish shores were sighted on the 18th. My informant, an experienced wildfowler, failed to catch the bird, but described it as like our curlew. Probably it was the American Numenius longirostris, but amongst the Irish curlews it would easily remain unrecognised.

When a seabird appears inland the usual explanation given is "storm-blown," but increasing knowledge shows the frequent fallacy of this idea. The Manx shearwater, for instance, is a regular migrant, and the examination of the dates of the records of so—called "storm-blown" birds found in inland localities shows a remarkable regularity; the majority are met with between the and of August and the end of the first week in September. Not only do the birds move south in the early days of September but many, usually at any rate, cross England; the weaklings fall out and are found. Is it possible that some of these collapses of passing birds are due to more than mere physical fatigue? Aviators have discovered the existence of "wind pockets" or "holes in the air," where the resistance of the air appears suddenly to fail;