35 



THE WHEATEAR. 



Saxicola u'ltaiithe (L.). 



The Wheatear arrived alon^ the whole of the south const, 

 but in greatest numbers on the western half. A single bird 

 was reported as having been seen on the Sussex Downs on 

 the Gth of January and several were noted on the S E. coast 

 of Suffolk on the 28th of February, but it was not until the 

 end of the first week in March that others were observed, and 

 from that date until the 25th stragglers were recorded fi-om 

 many counties, chiefly in the w^est, as far north as North- 

 umberland, where a male was seen on the 15th. 



The first large immigratory movement took place between 

 the 2Gth and 30th of March, the area of arrival covering the 

 whole of the south coast from Devonshire to Kent. The 

 advent of these migrants was at once apparent })y the 

 increased number of arrivals recorded in tlie western 

 Midlands and Wales on the one hand and in the Home 

 counties and East Anglia on the other. The northward 

 passage on the east coast was also indicated by the returns 

 from lio'ht-stations on the Norfolk and Yorkshire coasts on 

 the 29th and 31st. On the west side the Isle of Man was 

 reached on the 30th, Lanark on the 1st of A[)ril, and Argyll 

 on the 4th. 



A second, smaller, immigration occurred betw een the 2nd 

 and 5th of April, and indications of the northward passage 

 of these birds was also furnished from the lights on the 

 east coast on the 5th and on the west coast on the 8th, 

 but otherwise their influence on the numbers already present 

 does not appear to have been very marked. 



The third immigration, a large one^ seems to have supplied 



