96 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



Sea) from the Kentish Knock lightship, ;^^ miles off 

 the coast of Essex, as far as Southend, at which place 

 I disembarked. The birds, however, were still trooping 

 up the Thames valley in considerable numbers when I 

 left the ship. 



Numbers of Rooks, Starlings, Skylarks, Fieldfares, 

 and other species have been noticed in October at 

 Bermondsey, making their way in a north-westerly 

 direction. On some occasions, as on the 22nd October 

 1896, vast numbers came under notice, phalanx succeed- 

 ing phalanx in regular military order, without any 

 intermingling. This great flight lasted for half-an-hour, 

 during which, over thirty flocks were counted, each 

 numbering thousands of birds of the above-mentioned 

 species. Regarding the spring, Mr O. V. Aplin tells 

 me that the summer migrants reach Oxfordshire by this 

 route. 



Devonshire. — There is an interesting cross-country 

 route from Barnstaple Bay, on the north coast, by way 

 of the Torridge and the Teign valleys to the south 

 coast of the county. This " short cut " is much followed 

 in the autumn by migrants seeking winter quarters 

 across the Channel. For this information I am indebted 

 to Mr A. S. Elliot. 



North Wales. — Mr H. E. Forrest, in his Fmma of 

 North Wales (p. 65), indicates an overland route up the 

 Wye valley, followed by birds to reach their summer 

 quarters, some of which are in the southern portion of 

 Montgomeryshire. He also mentions that in Shrop- 

 shire the Severn valley is much traversed by migrants. 



Lakeland. — The late Rev. H. A. Macpherson in- 

 formed me in the year 1 900 that he saw no reason to 

 depart from the views he had expressed regarding cross- 



