25G Mr. W. Eagle Clarke-^ Month 



lip to some extent " side on," so to speak, and consequently 

 they glanced off either little stunned or quite uninjured. 

 These birds did not attempt to remain at the lantern, and 

 those which were captured shewed extreme fear. The Red- 

 wing, one of the most numerous species present, was very 

 shy, and still more so were the Mistle-Thrushes and the 

 Fieldfares ; the latter only approached the lantern and did 

 not strike. 



That this was a great movement, seen under favourable 

 conditions, is evident from the fact that the senior keeper had 

 only once before during his sixteen years' experience seen 

 one of equal magnitude, namely at the Casquets off Alderney. 

 The other keepers had not seen anything like it before. 

 It appears to have been a far-reaching movement, too ; for 

 at the Bishop's Rock Lighthouse, south of the Scilly Isles 

 and one hundred miles west of the Eddystone, a considerable 

 migration was in progress at the same time, and Starlings, 

 Thrushes, and Fieldfares are recorded as having been captured 

 at the lantern. It was not, however, a great night for victims 

 apart from Starlings and Skylarks; but had a thick drizzling 

 rain replaced the thin veil of haze, the slaughter would, in the 

 opinion of the keepers, have been appalling, so numerous were 

 the emigrants and so long-continued their passage. 



On the night of October 13th-14th, between 6.50 p.m. and 

 2 a.m., a few "^Skylarks, "^Starlings, *Song-Thrushes, *Chaf- 

 hnches, several Turtle-Doves, and a "^White Wagtail were 

 observed at or around the lantern. The night was, on the 

 Avhole, starlight and clear, but there Avere periods during 

 which it Avas overcast, and then it was that the birds ap- 

 proached the lighthouse. (Wind E.S.E., gentle breeze.) 



The White Wagtail had not hitherto been detected quitting 

 our shores in the autumn. Its occurrence at the Eddystone 

 lantern on the nights of the 13th and 14th of October is 

 of further interest, since the dates are, I believe, the latest 

 on record for the observation of this bird within the British 

 area. Both the examples secured were young birds in winter 

 plumage. 



