Ornithology of the Var S^c. 363 



mouth of the Rhone — are inferior to those of most countries. 

 In the IMediterranean there is comparatively little tide, and 

 consequently none of those tempting mud- flats exist for 

 Waders to feed upon en route which are uncovered at low 

 water in more northern estuaries. For migrants of this 

 order, therefore, there are less inducements to stay. 



The two writers who have paid most attention to migration 

 in the Var and Alpes Maritimes are M. Pellicot, of Toulon, 

 and M. Duval-Jouve, of Grasse. Both these gentlemen lay 

 special stress on rain, as being the great factor in hastening 

 migration, especially in autumn. '' The first heavy rains '^ 

 [in autumn], says Duval-Jouve, '*^ seem to arouse the 

 migratory impulse. . . . Sometimes when the early autumnal 

 rains have fallen in sufficient quantity to thoroughly cool 

 the earth and atmosphere, and when a light wind has blown 

 from the north-west, the birds of passage have arrived in 

 immense flocks, and the sportsmen have made great havoc 

 among them ; but this is not the case when the north-west 

 winds have not been preceded by rain.'' Pellicot, speaking 

 of the migration of the Spotted Crake {Porzana maruetta), 

 uses almost the same words in reference to rain and wind as 

 Duval-Jouve, who perhaps was quoting from him : — " Quand 

 il a plu vers la Saint-Michel [Sept. 29], et qu'a la pluie 

 succedent les vents d'ouest ou de nord-ouest, il y a des 

 journees de tres-grands passages de marouettes." And in 

 another place he says '' ce sont les pluies qui determinent 

 d'abord le passage" of migratory birds in general, referring 

 more particularly to the early autumn migration which 

 commences in August ; but he adds, " quand les vents qui 

 favorisent le passage n'unt point ete precedes par la pluie 

 la migration s'op^re encore sans doute, mais elle est plus 

 restreiute que dans le premier cas." So much rain would 

 not be altogether favourable in England, where the direction 

 and velocity of the wind would be considered a more im- 

 portant factor. It must, however, be borne in mind that 

 the Var, and still more the Alpes Maritimes, are high lands, 

 and in some districts exceedingly mountainous, as shown in 

 Howard Saunders's bathy-orographical map. 



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