BlilTISII ISLES AND THEIR MIGRATORY BIRDS 33 



Cuckoo almost everywhere, the Corn-Crake the orass- 

 lands, the Sandpiper the river and the loch, the 

 Dotterel the summits of fells and mountains, the Terns 

 the sea shore and the off-lying islets. Some are widely 

 distributed, others more or less local. Such are a few 

 typical summer birds. 



It is a noteworthy fact that all these summer 

 visitors to our islands, and also the birds of passage 

 from the north which traverse our shores in the autumn, 

 have winter retreats in countries to the south of the 

 British area, either in Southern Europe, or in Northern, 

 Tropical, and Southern Africa. 



None of the birds which breed in the British Isles, or 

 indeed in the Northern Hemisphere, it should be remarked, 

 nest during their sojourn in their southern winter quarters, 

 though some of them were once thought to do so. 



Partial Migrants.^ — In addition to the summer 

 visitors, the members of which depart from the British 

 Islands at their wonted times, there are other birds 

 usually regarded as resident species (such as the 

 familiar Skylark, Song Thrush, Pied-Wagtail, Meadow 

 Pipit, Lapwing, and others), but among which many 

 individuals are migratory- — ^especially those inhabiting 

 the more northern and elevated districts. In reality 

 these are summer visitors to the British Isles, as are 

 all, or nearly all, the members of the same species in 

 corresponding latitudes on the Continent. These partial 

 migrants, as they are termed, do not, as a rule, travel 

 far beyond the British area to winter ; and are the 

 earliest among our migratory birds to leave us in the 

 autumn and to return to their native haunts in spring. 



It may be here remarked that in some cases where 



1 For list of British Partial Migrants, see page 49. 

 I. C 



