THE BRITISH ISLES. AUTUMN 153 



October. — During October, the autumn migrations 

 reach their greatest magnitude, but chiefly consist of 

 arrival and passage movements from the north and cast. 



Passage Movements and Arrival of Winter Visitors} 

 —The rapid lowering of the temperature in Northern 

 Europe, which is one of the climatic features of 

 October, causes vast numbers of summer residents 

 in those wide-extending regions to move southwards, 

 with the result that our own and other countries 

 are flooded by successive rushes of migrants, the 

 magnitude of which is unequalled during any other 

 month of the year. The arrivals on the south-east 

 coast of England, from the opposite shores of the 

 Continent, also reach their maximum volume in October, 

 and add considerably to the extent and variety of the 

 movements on that exceedingly busy section of our 

 coast-line. 



Day after day during the month, and especially in its 

 latter half, when the weather conditions are favourable, 

 winter visitors pour into the British Islands from both 

 the north and east ; while more, very many more, 

 migrants, mostly of the same species, rush along our 

 coasts as birds of passage en route for more southern 

 winter quarters. 



The typical October migrants from the north are 

 mainly composed of fruit- and seed-eaters among the 

 Passeres — the various species of thrushes and finches — 

 of Hedge-Accentors, Grey Crows, Starlings, Skylarks, 

 Short-eared Owls, Swans, various species of Geese, 

 Ducks, Plovers (including the Woodcock) and Sand- 

 pipers, Snipe, Divers, and Grebes. Less abundant, but 



* For particulars of the dates of Passage Movements, see p. 129. For 

 dates of arrival of Winter Visitors, see p. 157. 



