A MONTH ON KENTISH KNOCK LIGHTSHH^ 7 



were those of birds seeking winter homes far to the 

 south of the British Isles. I was much gratified to find 

 that, although such an outlying station, the lightship 

 lay in the course of the southerly passage of numerous 

 summer birds departing from the more northern counties 

 of Great Britain, as well as from Northern and Central 

 Europe. Many migrants from the north when skirting 

 our shores find themselves far to the eastward on reach- 

 ing the coast of Suffolk, and on leaving that county 

 proceed over sea towards the east coast of Kent, a 

 course which carries them near the lightship, where 

 not a few of them were observed proceeding to the 

 south-south-west, as did others which had travelled 

 westwards from the opposite shore of the North Sea. 



Numbers of such emigrants passed between i8th 

 and 29th September — a genial spell of weather, with 

 much sunshine and light breezes, following a particularly 

 cold and stormy period for the time of the year. 

 Between these dates many Wheatears, Redstarts, Sky- 

 larks, Pied Flycatchers, and Tree-Pipits flitted by ; and 

 fewer Meadow- Pipits, Starlings, Goldcrests, Pied Wag- 

 tails, Yellow Wagtails, and Swallows, all singly except the 

 Skylarks and Swallows, which passed In small parties. 

 These migrants arrived singly and not unfrequently 

 followed each other In quick succession, but there were 

 usually greater or lesser Intervals between their appear- 

 ances. Not a few alighted on the ship, where some of 

 them being both tired and hungry, spent a considerable 

 time resting or busying themselves In an active search for 

 Insects, of which we had numbers on board at the time.^ 



^ For an account of some of the insects observed on board the Kentish 

 Knock lightship, see the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine for December 

 1903, p. 289. 



