BIRD MIGRATION IN SOLWAY 201 



the species that keeps its appointment to return to the 

 land of its birth by a certain date with most commendable 

 regularity. Whereas other birds may turn up any time 

 within a fortnight or three weeks, the Landrail rarely 

 deviates more than a couple of days on either side of 

 29th April. 



It has long been a belief of mine that the dates of 

 arrival of spring migrants are earlier along the west coast 

 of England and Scotland. That is to say, the birds are 

 seen sooner on the west coast than they are on the same 

 latitude of the east coast. So far as I am aware, the 

 matter has not been discussed yet, but it is an interesting 

 point that might easily be settled. The conclusion stated 

 has been reached from the experience of years, and from 

 the perusal of a multiplicity of records of bird arrivals. 



If a broad belt of bad weather intervenes anywhere 

 across the flight of a bird from its winter to its summer 

 home, its progress is at once arrested : that is, if its 

 flight is overland ; but if it is over the sea, the meteorological 

 influences of a bad weather belt are not felt to the same 

 extent. Hence the extreme western flank of the advancing 

 spring migrants coming along from the Spanish and French 

 headlands has a strong tendency to get here quicker, and 

 so the dates of arrival will be earlier on the west of our 

 islands. 



The altitude and direction of flight are two of the 

 phenomena of migration that are of prime importance in 

 any discussion of the subject. 



Skylarks and Swallows (and I include the two species 

 of martins in the term) are about the only birds I am 

 acquainted with that migrate at a comparatively low level. 

 Quite invariably other birds that I have seen actually 

 starting on their long journey mount very quickly upwards 

 in a slanting direction, till they reach a height at which 

 they can only be recognised by some special peculiarity 

 of flight. A strong beam wind will bring the birds even 

 those of strongest powers down to 200 to 500 feet of 

 the surface, and it is most interesting to see whole flocks 

 with heads turned almost completely to wind, and yet 

 travelling along at nearly their normal speed, at right 



