AUTUMN MIGRATION AT LITTLE ROSS LIGHTHOUSE 3 



AUTUMN MIGRATION AT LITTLE ROSS 

 LIGHTHOUSE, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE. 



By William Begg. 



Summer with its genial glow has fled, so also have the summer 

 birds ; the woods are vacant, the hedgerows deserted ; the 

 orchard where once were life and song is now all quietness, 

 not a chirrup nor a twitter is now heard. The time has 

 arrived, the instinct gifted by Nature tells the birds, that they 

 must leave this northern clime and seek their southern winter 

 quarters. The geographical position of the island of Little 

 Ross renders it among the most favoured stations in Scotland 

 for observing the departure in autumn of our own breeding 

 birds ; with these, migration begins very early as soon as 

 the middle of August. Amongst the commonest migrants 

 at this time are Willow-warblers, Whitethroats, Spotted 

 Flycatchers, Garden-warblers, Sedge-warblers, Robins, and 

 Corncrakes. I sent the Robins that were killed at the lantern 

 for inspection, and they proved to be of the British race, so 

 were evidently our own birds going south. One might raise 

 the question, why do they migrate so early ? It can't be for 

 want of food : insect life is abundant for insect-eaters, and 

 seeds of all kinds plentiful for seed-eaters. Their migration 

 flight takes place when the weather is still warm and genial, 

 therefore it cannot be cold nor want of food which prompts 

 this early departure. Another of our earliest migrants is the 

 Swallow : it is a traveller by day. In all my service in the 

 lighthouses, which is now thirty-two years, I have never seen 

 a Swallow amongst other birds at the lanterns, but during 

 the day they rest here in thousands ; they care not whether 

 the winds are strong or light, weather conditions don't seem 

 to matter; they go on their long flight, feeding as they fly, 

 towards their southern clime. 



After these early movements migration goes on steadily 

 throughout September and October and into November; in 

 the first-named month all the above-mentioned species, as 

 well as Chiffchaffs, Redstarts, Thrushes, and many others, are 

 common at the lantern on suitable nights. All the Thrushes 



