246 NATURAL SCIENCE. April, 



Lights, who permitted their officers to fill up returns sent to them for 

 that purpose. The last-mentioned report was brought by Professor 

 A. Newton before the meeting of the British Association held at 

 Swansea in 1880, and a committee was then appointed to carry on 

 the work under the auspices of the British Association. This com- 

 mittee worked for eight years, 1880 to 1887, both inclusive; and at 

 the meeting of the Association held last year in Liverpool it presented 

 a report consisting of a " Digest " of the " Observations on the 

 Migrations of Birds at Lighthouses and Lightvessels " for the above 

 period. This " Digest," ably prepared by Mr. William Eagle Clarke 

 of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, is the outcome of seven 

 years' study of the mass of data supplied to the committee, and has 

 necessitated the tabulation of at least 100,000 records, culled from 

 several thousands of forms filled in by the light-keepers, in each of 

 which forms the number of species mentioned was great and the dates 

 of observation wide-ranging ; some estimate may thus be formed of 

 Mr. Clarke's labour, but it is harder fully to appreciate his skill and 

 judgment. Even now Mr. Clarke does not claim to have exhausted 

 the material, but believes that further research, to which he is still 

 actively directing his attention, will yield results of a useful, and pro- 

 bably of an important, nature. 



Before discussing the results, it may be well to explain how the 

 material was obtained that is embodied in the Annual Reports issued 

 by the Committee. The Report for 1887 (the last issued) consists of 

 175 pages, accompanied by an excellent outline map of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, including the Orkney and Shetland Islands, showing the 

 stations from which returns were made. The stations are : 4 in Iceland 

 and the Faroes ; 27 on the East Coast of Scotland, and 35 on the West 

 Coast ; 36 on the East Coast of England, and 44 on the West Coast 

 of England and Wales ; 4 in the Isle of Man, and 40 on the Coasts 

 of Ireland. Information was also received from the following out- 

 lying stations : Heligoland, Zealand, Malmo (Sweden), the Casquets 

 Lighthouse, and the Harnois Lighthouse (Guernsey). There are 195 

 stations in all. It will, however, be observed with regret that the 

 South Coast of England from the South Foreland to the Start is not 

 represented. From a large number of these stations returns were 

 regularly received, while much information was also afforded by 

 observers on the coast and culled from natural history journals. The 

 observations from each group of stations were arranged under the 

 month, or even day, by the recorder for the district, giving locality, 

 species seen, direction of the wind, and other particulars of interest. 

 In many cases where the identification of the species was doubtful, 

 the wings of the birds killed at the lighthouses and vessels were sent 

 for determination. Each recorder added such particulars as he 

 deemed to be of value. It was this vast mass of original material 

 furnished to the committee during eight years that Mr. Clarke under- 

 took to exarnine de novo. It was this remarkable girdle of observing 



