on the Eddijstone. .259 



so small, and the occasions on which they appeared so rare, 

 that they do not merit further consideration. 



Daily throughout my visit when the weather was favour- 

 able, that is to say when a light wind prevailed, no matter 

 from what quarter, the passage of Meadow-Pipits and 

 Wagtails was of regular occurrence. The movements were 

 performed during particular hours only, commencing soon 

 after daylight — i. e. from 6.15 a.m. to 7 a.m. — and were 

 entirely over by or before midday. So rigidly were these 

 hours adhered to by the emigrants, that I soon found the 

 afternoons to be quite unproductive, and consequently I 

 regulated my hours of rest accordingly. 



The Meadow-Pipits often passed in small parties, consisting 

 of as many as a score, but frequently in twos and threes, 

 and sometimes even singly ; while the height of their flight 

 varied from twenty feet, or less, above the water to occasion- 

 ally as much as two hundred feet, the direction being due 

 south. The birds were observed on emigration, in greater 

 or less numbers, on sixteen days *, during which vast 

 numbers passed close to the lighthouse : the passage being 

 on some days continuous between sunrise and midday. The 

 greatest movements were chronicled between September 30th 

 and October 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 15th. They invariably 

 uttered their familiar notes as they flitted by. 



On the same days, with hardly an exception, and during the 

 same hours of the morning and forenoon that the Pipits were 

 on the move. Wagtails, singly or in pairs — but never more 

 than three together, and that seldom — were observed moving 

 southwards. The species identified were the Pied, the White, 

 and the Grey Wagtail ; but in what proportion I was unable 

 to determine, for it was only occasionally that the birds 

 were seen under conditions which permitted of their being 

 identified with certainty — chiefly when they broke their 

 journey, as they sometimes did, and alighted on the reefs at 

 low water. These birds generally flew at a comparatively con- 

 siderable elevation, seldom below that of the gallery (130 feet), 



* I Wcas 32 days on the rock, and during that period 14 days were 

 entirely unsuited for migration, owing to adverse weather-conditions. 



s2 



