Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/266

242 "February 18th, W. Alauda arvensis, a great many ; Turdus merula, ten to twenty; Corvus frugilegus, about one hundred; Fringilla cannabina, pretty numerous; Saxicola rubicola, two; Charadrius vanellus and auratus, many; C. hiaticula, one.

"19th, westerly, clear. Turdus merula, fifty to sixty at least; T. viscivorus, twenty to twenty-five; Saxicola rubicola, four to six ; Charadrius vanellus, some.

"20th to 21st, W., cloudy. Turdus merula, pretty numerous; Charadrius auratus, T. alpina, Turdus, Alauda, at lighthouse.

"22nd, W., cold. Nothing.

"23rd, W., cloudy, cold. Sturnus vulgaris, flights from twenty to sixty; A. arvensis, many ; arborea, some; Charadrius vanellus, some.

"26th, N.W., cold. Turdus merula and viscivorus, some.

"27th to 28th, night, westerly, at lighthouse. Alauda arvensis, T. merula, Tringa, C. auratus, Vanellus, Hæmatopus ostralegus, Regulus ignicapillus, some; during day time nothing.

"28th to March 1st, westerly, at lighthouse. Sturnus vulgaris, thousands; Alauda, Tardus, Tringa; C. hiaticula, beginning.

"March 1st, W., alternately fog. Motacilla lugubris, one or two.

"2nd to 3rd, fog. Nothing.

"4th, W., clear. Accentor modularis, several, the first of the season; Saxicola rubicola, six to ten; Turdus merula, fifty to one hundred.

"10th. Last week birds were next to none, which has been occa- sioned by prevailing fogs. On the 8th a storm(N.by VV.) about 9a.m., approaching N.W., very heavy. On the 4lh six to ten Saxicola rubicola and the first Accentor modularis of the year; on the 5th ten to fifteen S. rubicola. Starlings, Lapwings and Larks, as also Golden Plover have passed over in immense numbers during all the nights. Blackbirds are not on a regular move, because the sexes are promiscuously mixed; these birds have been turned by the unseasonable weather.

"31st. Nothing but N.N.W., N. and N.E. winds; cutting cold, sleet and hail in abundance, and of course no birds. Whilst all the rest are wanting, there are more this spring of Stonechats than I recollect having seen for years. The Gold-crested Wren comes every spring (March) in sufficient numbers to rank it with the common customers, although not by tens of hundreds, or even tens of thousands, as sometimes in autumn (October and November).