I9I2. Patten. — Spotted Flycatchers on Migratioji. 193 



SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS ON MIGRATION 

 OBSERVED AT THE TUSKAR ROCK AND 



LIGHTHOUSE. 



BY PROFESSOR C. J. PATTEN, M.A., M.D., SC.D. 



When my first visit to the Tuskar light -station (which took 

 place last autumn) had come to an end, I felt convinced that 

 it would have been attended with much better results had J 

 arrived there earlier in the season, for the purpose of witness- 

 ing the initial phases of emigration of several common 

 summer migrants. I did not land on the rock until Monday, 

 September nth, 191 1, and although from that date until 

 Saturday, October 7th, when I departed, the feathered 

 emigrants^ were still actively on the move, nevertheless, 

 coming on the scene, as I did, in the middle of the movement, 

 I found it was not possible to form any conclusion, 

 either of the initial phase or of the principal period of 

 exodus. This applied especially to those species whose 

 emigration is maintained over a lengthened period in autumn. 

 I therefore decided, on careful deliberation, to revisit the 

 Tuskar light -station this autumn, and to arrive at the 

 beginning of August, though my original plan had been to 

 study migration at some other point on the Irish coast. 



I rejoice to sa}^ that I came to a right decision. My 

 studies of migration carried out here during August have 

 enabled me not only to supplement and to enhance con- 

 siderably the value of last season's research, but also to 

 grapple with, and I hope disentangle, many knotty problems 

 regarding our knowledge of the migration of several species 

 of birds which visit the lighthouse. I must, however, in 

 this paper confine my remarks to the migratory movements 

 of a common, somewhat solitary little bird, the Spotted 

 Flycatcher. Having secured fuller data in regard to its 

 emigration than its immigration, it may be well to deal 

 with the former movement first. The month of September, 

 and, in some districts, even the first week in October, 

 constitute the usual period assigned to this species for its 

 departure from our isles. 



^ Immigrants were pouring in during the latter part of my stay, and 

 with the Emigrants, were recorded from the lantern and rock. In this 

 paper the former are not dealt with. 



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