THE SPRING MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 207 



other ; and the sound of myriads of voices was 

 deafening as the clouds of birds passed on, or 

 wheeled and gyrated in the air like Starlings. A 

 vast flight of locusts had attracted the' migrating 

 Pastors, and the birds formed "a great globe in 

 the air which suddenly turned, expanded, and like 

 a vast fan descended to the ground," which in a few 

 moments was covered with a moving black and 

 pink dappled mass of birds ! On other occasions 

 trees were observed literally black with them ; and 

 again, on being disturbed from a pool of water 

 where they had alighted to drink, the air was dark- 

 ened with their numbers as they rose and hurried 

 out of harm's way. It is said that these vast flights 

 of Pastors are only seen in Palestine during spring 

 migration, when their flight is from east to west. 

 The Scarlet Rose Finch {Carpodacus eri/thrinus) 

 winters in India and Burma, yet extends its spring 

 migrations as far to the west as the Baltic Provinces, 

 and as far to the east as Kamtschatka. Its fly- 

 lines, therefore, go exactly north-east and north-west 

 from a common winter centre ! The Black-headed 

 Bunting {Emberiza melanocephala) also winters 

 exclusively in India, and in spring migrates nearly 

 due w^est across Afghanistan and Scinde, to breed 

 in Persia, Palestine, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, 

 Greece, Turkey, and Italy. All these birds are 

 remarkably late migrants, not arriving at their 

 European breeding-grounds before May. They 

 all appear to have a dislike to cross the sea on 

 migration, and this explains their exceeding rarity 



