LAPWING 



149 



Spring migration. — The northward movement of continental birds 

 depends much on the weather. In mild winters they have appeared 

 in Denmark in January and February, but the average date is about 

 March 6. In Sweden the arrival is also irregular, from mid February 

 to mid March, but in south Finland not till late in March. In central 

 Europe the birds arrive as a rule on the breeding grounds early in 

 March, and the Mediterranean passage is generally over by the be- 

 ginning of that month. 



Fall migration. — Migrants from the north arrive at Gibraltar 

 about mid October, while in Malta the passage takes place in Novem- 

 ber, and in Greece at the end of October. In Iraq they arrive from 

 October 22 onward, but chiefly in early November. 



Casual records. — Greenland, occasional visitor (Julianehaab 1847; 

 Fiskenaes 7, I, 1820, etc.) Iceland; numerous records between Sep- 

 tember and March; Labrador (Cartwright, January, 1917); New- 

 foundland, White Hills, November 23, 1905 and recently December, 

 1927) ; Nova Scotia (Ketch Harbor, March 17, 1897) ; Long Island, 

 New York (Merrick, 2 specimens, December 26, 1833 and Meccox 

 Bay, Waterville, autumn 1905) ; Bahamas (Hog Island, November, 

 1900) ; Barbados (December 24, 1886) ; West Alaska (small islets 

 in Norton Sound) ; Madeira (Machico, December 6, 1891, December 

 2, 1889, December 4, 1893, January 14, 1895, March 10, 1895, Decem- 

 ber 15, 1896, and November 28, 1897) ; Jan Mayen (30 on April 8, 

 1883). 



[Author's note. — The most remarkable occurrence of this species 

 took place during the fall and winter of 1927-28. A specimen was 

 taken on Baffin Island in October ; and they appeared in large num- 

 bers in Newfoundland (Bonavista) in December, where one man was 

 reported to have killed 60 individuals, one of which carried a band 

 of British Bird Magazine that had been attached in Cumberland*, 

 England, in May, 1926. Capt. Donald MacMillan reported them at 

 Anatalok Bay, Labrador, on December 22, and a specimen was 

 obtained January 6, 1928, at North Head, Grand Manan, New 

 Brunswick.] 



C. L. AVliittle (1928) has suggested the following theory, as to the 

 possible cause of this unusual flight: 



As to the cause of the movement of lapwings to Newfoundland and the route 

 taken, it is perhaps helpful to study the Pilot Charts of the North Atlantic 

 above referred to. During the month of December, the 16th and 17th, a well- 

 developed cyclone of exceptional intensity had its center well to the east of 

 Spain, with a low pressure of 28.30 inches, and with accompanying strong 

 southeasterly winds from western Europe. These winds might easily have 

 been instrumental in driving lapwings to Iceland, five to seven hundred miles 

 distant, and to Greenland. Later, polar winds and a search for food may have 

 played important parts in forcing a movement southwesterly to northeru 



