THE PERILS OF MIGRATION 109 



land had turned back. The weather charts, he 

 adds, show no sufficient reason for the birds to have 

 been blown out of their course by storms. 



The weather charts, as I have pointed out, do 

 not indicate the force or direction of the wind at 

 high altitudes ; I suggest that these birds were 

 carried rather than blown out of their way by 

 strong currents at a higher altitude than recorded 

 on the charts, and that having left the air currents 

 they descended to the elevation of about 700 or 

 800 feet at which most of them were flying when 

 they were observed making for the land. 



On the night of March 29th to 30th, 1911, the 

 south-eastern extremity of Ireland experienced a 

 remarkable rush of migrants, and the local papers 

 were full of the avian disaster, for large numbers of 

 birds struck the lights as well as buildings and other 

 objects in inland towns. Mr Barrington collected 

 information (4), and found that most of the birds 

 were starlings, though thrushes, blackbirds, and 

 redwings were numerous. He received specimens 

 of woodcock, water-rail, snipe, dunlin, meadow 

 pipit, wheatear, goldcrest, starling, song thrush, 

 redwing, blackbird, black redstart, robin, skylark, 

 and stonechat, whilst some thirteen or fourteen 

 other species were said to have been recognised, 

 amongst them oyster- catcher and wild duck. The 

 area affected lay south-east of a line drawn across 



