166 BIRDS OF BERMUDA. 



returning to Bermuda from leave in England, one of whom (Captain 

 Eooke) was a great sportsman, and had shot and collected some birds 

 during his previous residence in the " beautiful isle of the sea." His 

 account was decidedly reassuring. He spoke of twenty or more species, 

 and delighted my ears with the magic words — "Teal" and "Snipe." I 

 was thankful then that my trusty IG-bore was lying snug and safe in 

 my cabin, ready to add to the Bermuda lists when called upon. 



We left Gibraltar on the 12th, but did not land in Bermuda till March 

 30, owing to a pleasant head-wind and somewhat limited powers of 

 locomotion. My note-book was started next day — our first on shore — 

 and was religiously kept up from that time till June 3, 1875, when I left 

 again for English soil. 



Situated in latitude 32° 15' north, and longitude 64° 51' west, 600 

 miles or more from the great North American continent, and exposed 

 to the full force of ever- varying gales, the long, narrow group of islands 

 known as the "Bermudas" offer a harbor of refuge to many a weary, 

 storm-beaten migrant on its passage north or south, and in consequence 

 we find a great many genera of the North American avifauna repre- 

 sented in the visiting list. On this subject my friend, Mr. J. Matthew 

 Jones, of the Middle Temple, editor of " The Naturalist in Bermuda" 

 (1859), remarks: "That the Bermudas afford an excellent position from 

 whence to observe the annual migration of many species of the feathered 

 tribes of America cannot be doubted. Equidistant, or nearly so, from 

 the shores of Nova Scotia, the United States, and the West Indian 

 archipelago, they present, as it were, a casual resting-place to many 

 birds while traversing the broad expanse of ocean which forms the 

 eastern limit of their great line of flight." 



Some species, as the American Golden Plover, American Snipe, Sora 

 Kail, Night Hawk, Yellowshanks, &c., seldom fail to appear every au- 

 tumn, and may be set down as regular visitors, i^robably from the fact 

 that their line of migration is direct from the northeastern coasts of the 

 continent to the West Indies and tropical South America ; but, as will 

 presently be seen, the great bulk of the recorded species are irregular 

 or accidental visitors, whose migratory journeys are less ambitious, and 

 who are blown off' the mainland by unfavorable winds. That fresh 

 species will from time to time be added to the present list is more than 

 probable; in fact, it is possible that the whole migratorj- avi-fauna of 

 North America may eventually be recorded as Bermudiau. When such 

 iliminutive flyers as the Ruby-throated Humming-bird, Trochilus coin- 



