The Scottish Naturalist. 235 



in about half the time that Bermuda would take to reach it in the 

 opposite wing. Thus far the wind would have assisted the birds 

 in their flight ; but heavy rain and violent wind would now be 

 encountered, and the latter, shifting more and more from N. to 

 N.W., W., and S.W., the hapless birds would be drifted down 

 wind, into the right wing of the gale, just about the time that 

 Bermuda had advanced somewhat south of the storm diameter 

 v/hich passed through the Bermudas at midnight. Here the 

 storm-driven birds would be enabled to take refuge while the 

 remainder of the storm passed over them. Thus the flight 

 Avould enter the storm at letter Z? in the latitude of Bermuda, four 

 hours and a half before midnight — that is, 7 h. 30 m. p.m. of the 

 8th October, and at 9 h. 15 m. p.m. they would reach letter C. 

 Three hours later they would cross the storm diameter, and from 

 thence gradually drift with the gale to the eastward, describing a 

 curve. When approaching the storm diameter in the right wing 

 they would fall in with the Bermudas, having travelled over double 

 the distance (so to speak) of these Islands. This would be in 

 the early morning of the 9th October, say i a.m." 



I will now give my own reminiscences of the night in question 

 as I saw it. The evening of the 8th being stormy and boisterous, 

 with heavy rain, and being certain, from signs I had noticed in 

 the afternoon, that a large passage of birds might be expected, I 

 was in all readiness, and was out by a little after two o'clock 

 in the morning, till long after daylight. It was blowing very fresh 

 from the S.W., and the scene which presented itself will be long 

 impressed on my memory. Under the shelter of some hay on 

 the glacis, behind the barracks, on the Island of St George's, I 

 remained for several hours watching the wonderful flight passing 

 over the Island, in a direction nearly due south. Though dark, and 

 the birds pretty high up, still I could quite trace their course ; and 

 the incessant beat of many thousands of wings, the wild cries and 

 sounds of many voices, told me a mighty host was passing rapidly 

 overhead. Among the various cries, I distinctly recognised Wild- 

 duck, Plovers, Snipe, Curlews, Tattlers, and many other Tringidce. 

 When day broke, and it was sufficiently light to see objects dis- 

 tinctly, I visited the shore, and there I found, to my astonish- 

 ment, every cedar bush crammed with birds, literally in thou- 

 sands, and apparently all of one species — the yellow - billed 

 American Cuckoo {Coccyztis americanus). Nor was this great 

 flight confined only to St George's, but, as I afterwards ascer- 

 tained, extended the whole length and breadth of the Islands, a 



