132 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



" rush " at the lantern at Sule Skerry ; a " great rush " at 

 Skerryvore, the " numbers were far in excess of anything 

 seen here for years": 98 birds of this and other species 

 being picked up on the gallery of the lantern next morning 

 (p. 23), while at Mull 100 are noted as arriving all on 

 2 ist October, and like the previous movement with a S.E. 

 wind. On the 22nd, at Pentland Skerries a " great rush" 

 of Fieldfares, Redwings, etc. The influence of this ex- 

 traordinary inrush was felt throughout the winter. To it 

 is probably to be attributed the fact of the Redwing being 

 " more abundant than usual " this winter at Kirkliston, of 

 the " large flocks here this winter " recorded from Newburn, 

 and of the fact that the writer has never in his experience 

 in the Glasgow district seen so many Redwings as during 

 the winter of 1906-7. To give a concrete illustration of 

 this I may say that in an equal number of excursions for 

 observation in the winters of 1905-6 and 1906-7, I find 

 five entries of Redwings in the former to sixteen in the 

 latter. From Carmichael, the Rev. J. D. W. Gibson writes 

 " We had an unusual number of Redwings with us this 

 autumn. Some seasons this species is very rare on migra- 

 tion here. Both Fieldfares and they have been in large 

 flocks." Later Mr. Gibson writes " This species [Redwing] 

 was very abundant in November, and it is not usual to find 

 any so late here." 



Another distinction of the last quarter of 1906 was the 

 appearance in unusual numbers, and so far as " Clyde " is 

 concerned at any rate, of unprecedented numbers of the 

 Brambling. Fife correspondents write " There have been 

 larger flocks about here during December than we have ever 

 seen before." At Kirkliston they have been " unusually 

 numerous this winter." In Mull, where they arrived on 

 i Sth October, they " betook themselves to Aros beech woods," 

 where 500 or so remained till 3Oth December when they 

 left." Though much larger flocks have occurred in "Solway " 

 in some other years, Mr. Service has never known them so 

 " generally diffused." At Carmichael in Lanarkshire, they 

 were in enormous flocks, and the Rev. Mr. Gibson writes 

 " I should say there are more of this species than of 

 any other with us at present." Curiously the lighthouse 



