176 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



was shot in the Dee estuary opposite Parkgate on October 6th, 

 1913. With the exception of the shoulders, which showed 

 a slight duskiness, the bird was perfectly white ; the legs 

 and bill were the normal colour. The bird appeared to be 

 an adult. 



Diurnal Migration at the Tuskar Rock. — In the 

 Zoologist 1913, pp. 182-195, 212-228, Professor C. J. Patten 

 has a long and important paper on diurnal movements of 

 certain species as observed by him at the Tuskar Rock, 

 off CO. Wexford, during the autumns of 1911 and 1912. He 

 points out that the Tuskar would be an imx)ortant migration 

 observatory Mere there no lighthouse on it, and that a 

 study of diurnal movements there is even more important 

 than of nocturnal ones, since the study of the latter at 

 the lantern of a lighthouse is in most cases a study of dis- 

 torted migration, and the large assemblies of many species 

 that sometimes occur are probably artificially produced by 

 climatic conditions aided by the lure of the light. 



During the latter part of August and Sex^tember of 1912 

 he made a special study of the daylight movements of 

 Pipits, Wagtails, and Swallows. Wagtails began to pass 

 some days before August 25th, the first Meadow-Pipit 

 appeared on the 28th, but the passage was not regular 

 until September 1st ; odd Swallows passed at intervals 

 before August 30th, but the passage did not set in regularly 

 until that date. The daily flight of Wagtails and Pipits 

 began with great regularity at dawn and that of Swallows 

 an hour or two later, and lasted for fully five hours and 

 even longer. The numbers passing were markedly less on 

 rough and windy days, especially when these conditions 

 were persistent over a period. About five per cent, of the 

 Wagtails and Pipits halted on the rock, the proportion 

 being larger on warm and calm and on rough and windy 

 days than on those with intermediate or uncertain types 

 of weather. Of the Wagtails, the Yellow Wagtail formed 

 only a very small proportion, and excluding these, the 

 White and Pied formed two-thirds of the whole and the 

 Grey one-third ; of thirteen White and Pied Wagtails 

 obtained, eleven proved to be W^liite and only tw^o Pied. 

 The Pipits were nearly all Meadow-PijDits, a few Rock- 

 Pipits appearing towards the end of September. All these 

 frequently uttered their call-notes while passing, and their 

 average height of flight, as judged by the height of the light- 

 house tower, was : Meadow-Pipits 70 ft.. Wagtails 120 ft. 

 (with considerable variations), and their speed was estimated 



