MIGRATORY BIRDS: SPRING 119 



May. — In May the tide of spring migration rises to 

 its maximum height. The arrivals in and departures 

 from our islands are many, and the numbers of the 

 migrants great, but the most important, so far as 

 volume is concerned, are the movements of birds on 

 their passage from the south to the north, which are in 

 progress along our shores throughout the month. 



Arrival of Sunivier Visitors} — Our summer guests 

 still pour into Great Britain and Ireland, especially 

 during the first half of the month. This is particularly 

 the case with those species whose average date of first 

 arrival is in the latter half of April, such as the Lesser 

 Whitethroat, Garden-Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, 

 Reed- Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Spotted Flycatcher, 

 Pied Flycatcher, Nightjar, Swift, Honey-Buzzard, Turtle 

 Dove, Corn-Crake, Quail, Dotterel, Common Tern, Arctic 

 Tern, Lesser Tern, and Red-necked Phalarope,all of which 

 are characteristic of May in most parts of the British area. 

 On the other hand, certain species which are among the 

 earliest summer birds to arrive, such as the Ring-Ouzel, 

 Wheatcar, Chiff-Chaff, Swallow, Sand- Martin, Yellow 

 Wagtail, Willow- Warbler, Blackcap, Wryneck, and 

 Sandpiper, do not appear as summer residents beyond 

 the earliest days of the month, though they arrive on 

 and traverse our shores as birds of passage throughout 

 its days. 



Sometimes we have a sharp and melancholy reminder 

 that 



" Winter, lingering, chills the lap of May." 



This was the case in 1886, when in the second week of 

 May, after several very cold days for the time of the 



^ For particulars of dates of arrival of the Summer Visitors, see p. 

 126. 



