The Scottish Naturalist. 131 



lightship, forty miles south-east of Orfordness, reports that on the 

 night of October 6th, larks, starlings, tree-sparrows, titmice, common 

 wrens, redbreasts, chaffinches, and plovers were picked up from 

 the deck, and that it is calculated that from 500 to 600 struck the 

 rigging and fell overboard ; a large proportion of these were larks. 

 Thousands of birds were flying round the lantern from 11.30 p.m. 

 to 4.45 a.m., their white breasts, as they dashed to and fro in the 

 circle of light, having the appearance of a heavy snowstorm. This 

 was repeated on the 8th and 12th, and on the night of the 13th 

 160 were picked up on deck, including larks, starlings, thrushes, 

 and two redbreasts. It was thought that 1000 struck and went 

 overboard into the sea. It is only on dark, rainy nights, with 

 snow or fog, that such casualties occur ; when the nights are light, 

 or any stars visible, the birds give the lanterns a wide berth. 



" Undoubtedly the principal feature of the autumn migration 

 has been the extraordinary abundance of the gold-crested wren. 

 The flights appear to have covered not only the east coast of Eng- 

 land, but to have extended southward to the Channel Islands and 



northward to the Faroes During the autumn 



enormous numbers crossed Heligoland, more especially in October. 

 On the night from the 28th to the 29th, Mr. Gatke remarks: — 

 ' We have had a perfect storm of gold-crests, perching on the 

 ledges of the window panes of the lighthouse, preening their fea- 

 thers in the glare of the lamps. On the 29th all the island 

 swarmed with them, filling the gardens and over all the clirT, 

 hundreds of thousands. By 9 a.m. most of them had passed on 

 again.' Not less remarkable was the great three days' flight of the 

 common jay, past and across Heligoland, on October 6th, 7th, 

 and 8th. Thousands on thousands, without intermission, passed 

 on overhead, north and south of the island too, multitudes like a 

 continual stream, all going east to west in a strong south-easterly 

 gale. It would have been interesting if we had been able to 

 correlate this migration of jays with any visible arrival on our Eng- 

 lish coast, but in none of the returns is any mention made of jays. 

 Subsequently we have received numerous notices of extraordinary 

 numbers seen during the winter in our English woodlands. This 

 seems especially to have been the case south of a line drawn from 

 Flamborough Head to Portland Bill in Dorset. Additions and 

 unusual numbers were also observed at Arden on Loch Lomond 

 side. 



" The returns show very clearly that the spring lines of migra- 

 tion followed by birds are the same as those in the autumn, but 

 of course in the reverse direction, from west and north-west to 

 south and south-east. Another point worth noting is the occur- 

 rence of many species in spring at the same stations frequented 

 by the species in autumn. Thus double records occur at the 

 Mull of Galloway, Bell Rock, and Isle of May, as well as at some 

 English stations. 



