Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/452

424 of the ship's skylights. It appeared in no way exhausted—in fact, it was as lively as if it was on land. After remaining fifteen minutes on board it rose to about eighty feet above the water, and disappeared in an easterly direction. The Goldcrest is the smallest bird in Great Britain, and it seems strange that it should be capable of such powers of flight, as the nearest laud—Belmullet, Co. Mayo—was about seven hundred and twenty nautical miles distant, and only fifty-six miles short of half the distance across the Atlantic to Belle Isle. In this case the wind was not favourable to westerly migration, and the bird must have been engaged some time on its return journey. Cattle-ships afford food and a resting place to many migrants, more particularly those from America, in their attempts to cross the ocean, and if a record was kept of them it should prove to be both valuable and interesting.— (Malahide, Co. Dublin).

Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus rufus) singing in Autumn.—With reference to Mr. A.H. Meiklejohn's note on this subject {ante, p. 388), I may mention that on the morning of Sept. 25th one was singing loudly in the garden here. I heard it first about 8 a.m., and saw it several times at close quarters, until it ceased singing about one o'clock. I had not before heard the Chiffchaff in this locality. On Aug. 31st, 1899, I heard one singing in a lime-tree at Wellingborough, and on Sept. 7th, 1900, I heard one singing in the gardens close to Belvoir Castle.— (Polefield, Prestwich, near Manchester).

It is by no means an unusual occurrence to hear the Chiffchaff singing in the autumn mouths. On one occasion I heard an individual merrily chirping away in a small coppice so late as Oct. 9th. This I believe to be a record (at least for this district); but I have many times heard the note of this cheerful little warbler daring the month of September.— (Fyfield, near Abingdon, Berks).

The song of the Chiffchaff in autumn, to which a correspondent calls attention (p. 388), is nothing unusual. I have frequently heard this bird singing in September, but the song at that season seems to lack the spirit with which it is uttered in the spring. Far more remarkable than the mere occurrence of the bird singing in the autumn is the fact that its song may then be heard in the most unexpected places. For instance, this last September I heard the song and saw the bird on several different days among some trees in Summerfield Park, within a stone's throw of one of the noisiest and most crowded streets of Birmingham; and I also heard it among some small trees in the grounds of Birmingham Workhouse Infirmary, where most trees will refuse to grow, on account of the smoke from adjacent factories.