Recently published Ornithological Works. 325 



45. Clarke on the Migration of Birds. 



[Bii-d Migration in Great Britain and Ireland. Third Interim Report 

 of the Committee, consisting of Prof. Newton (Chairman), Rev. E. P. 

 Knubley (Secretary), Mr. John A. Harvie-Brown, Mr. R. M. Barrington, 

 Dr. H. O. Forbes, and Mr. A. H. Evans, appointed to work out the 

 details of the Observations of Migration of Birds at Lighthouses and 

 Lightsliips, 1880-87. Statement furnished to the Committee. By 

 Wm. Eagle Clarke. Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Bradford, 1900.] 



Mr. W. E. Clarkej having coucliidecl his laborious task of 

 summing up the results of the Migration Reports of 1880- 

 1887, has turned his attention to the movements of the 

 several species^ and now puts before us in most able style the 

 conclusions at which he has arrived in the case of the Sons:- 

 Thrush and White Wagtail^ from the evidence of the afore- 

 said Reports and from information gathered from ornitho- 

 logists inland. He holds out hopes, moreover, that this may 

 be only an earnest of further contributions. 



Sufficient evidence has now for the first time been ac- 

 cumulated to write an authoritative history of the status of 

 each species, of its abundance, its time of appearance, and 

 its route on migration ; for nearly all birds seem to migrate 

 to a greater or less extent in our islands. 



The Song-Thrush is shown by Mr. Clarke not to par- 

 ticipate in the east-to-west autumnal, or the west-to-east 

 vernal, movements across the North Sea; the first home-bred 

 individuals emigrate in August, though few leave us until 

 September and October ; while they return late in February 

 and in the first half of March. The birds of passage arrive 

 in the latter days of September, and continue to do so until 

 mid-November ; they gradually pass on to warmer climes — 

 some remaining with us and spreading over the inland dis- 

 tricts — and return late in March, to depart once more in 

 April by the way in which they came. The regular limits of 

 immigration are from South Shetland and the Orkneys to 

 Norfolk, the birds reaching our northern and eastern coasts, 

 and in some cases proceeding overland as far as Ireland, 

 but most move southwards on their way to the Continent. 

 Severe weather seems to cause " rushes.'' 



