312 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



distant. These were the Kingfisher, Cormorant, Shag, 

 Common Gull, Herring-Gull, Lesser and Greater Black- 

 backed Gulls, and Kittiwake. Certain of the species 

 observed as birds of passage^ — the Turnstone, for Instance 

 — would also be winter residents. 



I took with me to Ushant a carefully prepared series 

 of questions relating to the visits of migratory birds to 

 the island, copies of which I left with the '' Garde en 

 Chef" of each lighthouse, with a request for answers 

 and such other information bearing upon the subject as 

 they could afford me. These documents I had to 

 abandon on quitting the island ; but on mentioning the 

 fact to Consul Hoare, he most kindly offered to see 

 the authorities at the Fonts et Chaussees, under whose 

 jurisdiction the lighthouses fall, and endeavour to 

 procure for me the information I desired. As the result, 

 I received excellent and most useful answers to my 

 enquiries from each of the Ushant lighthouses. 



From these we learn that the island is visited 

 annually by vast numbers of birds of passage ; and that 

 on dark, moonless and starless nights, with easterly 

 winds, during the autumnal migratory period, from 500 

 to 600 birds are killed at the lantern — among others, 

 Chaffinches, Thrushes, Blackbirds, Wild Ducks, Water- 

 hens, Plovers, Lapwings, Woodcock, Snipe, and 

 Curlews. As an illustration of the phenomenal numbers 

 which sometimes occur, the Chef du Phare de Creach 

 reported that on one night in the autumn of 1888, no 

 fewer than 1500 birds perished by striking the lantern 

 — an extraordinary number, but its accuracy is confirmed 

 and vouched for by the engineer to the lighthouse 

 authorities, to whom the Consul obligingly referred, at 

 my request. 



