Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/152

124 Blakeney. Mr. Pashley stuffed one which exhibited a perfect melanism, with just an indication of straw-colour on the acuminate feathers of the neck—an old bird with a nice tail. As far as I know, not a single Pomatorhine turned up, unless a large dark Skua swimming off Cromer Pier was one; but I could not be certain, It is most unusual for a year to pass without a Pomatorhine Skua, and with only one Glaucous Gull; but ten well-identified Little Gulls were seen by different correspondents during the autumn (of which five were observed in October), and this is good as against one in 1895, and three in 1894. We ought to have plenty of Little Gulls, because they are so common in Heligoland. As if to make up for the extraordinary abundance of the Little Auk in 1894–95, the two winters since have scarcely produced any; while the Lapland Bunting, so common in 1892, has been scarcely seen. No Eagles are reported, and only two Rough-legged Buzzards, and but one Fulmar as against ten in 1895.

During the autumn of 1896 the following very rare visitors came in from over the sea:—White-winged Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Sabine's Gull, Greater Shearwater, and Aquatic Warbler, all presumably with a west wind; Icterine Warbler, Pallas's Warbler, and Red-breasted Flycatcher, presumably with an east wind; Barred Warbler, with a south wind; and Greater Spotted Cuckoo, with a north wind. These instances alone show how very much there is still to be learnt as to wind influence, and there is no better post of observation than our rounded seaboard for diligently noticing its bearing on migration. Migratory birds which come to Norfolk in autumn, flying against a west wind, as was the case with three of those here named, were not so numerous in 1896 as they have sometimes been. Such birds are undoubtedly always more in evidence than those which come across the North Sea, flying with an east wind. The reason is evident, because if the wind is with them—i.e. east or north-east—they leaving the Naze of Norway, or some more southern place, at one or two o'clock in the morning (or later in the case of the Hooded Crow and Rook), make land at Cromer, Cley, or Yarmouth before any but the earliest fishermen and shore-gunners are abroad. On the other hand, if they come across the North Sea against a west wind, and, unless it be very light indeed, there is a certain amount of labour attending the passage, which accounts for their being seen long