NOTES ON Birp MIGRATION IN THE DISTRICT. 171 
seas from the western portion of France and right up from Spain 
which, given an uninterrupted belt of good weather in front, 
would bring the birds up to the south-western portion of Scotland 
days in advance of what might be expected in other districts of 
the British Isles. That was a fact which he (Mr Service) had 
discovered and pointed out, and it was only now being thoroughly 
established. He thought he might fairly claim to have made at 
least that little discovery. Mr Service closed with the narration 
of a curious incident that occurred in the end of the first week of 
April. It was a Saturday evening at dusk, when a very general 
migration was going on all over this locality. One of his children 
in walking along the road happened to hear a small party of 
thrushes passing overhead, and immediately one of them fell 
dead with a stone-like fall. What caused that occurrence had 
been a puzzle to him ever since. He thought himself the bird 
had taken some sudden illness—heart disease or some trouble of 
that kind—because there were indications about it to that effect 
when he dissected the body. On the other hand, there might 
have been a collision among the birds in the air, as sometimes 
happened in the case of starlings. 
THE HospiraL oF SANQUHAR. By Mr W. M‘Mi11an. 
In the latter end of the 12th century a new development of 
the monastic spirit which had crept into the Church took place. 
It was then that the Military Religious Orders were founded, in 
which the duties of monk and soldier were combined. ‘The two 
principal orders were the Knights’ Templars and the Knights of 
St. John of Jerusalem. The latter had their origin in Palestine, 
their aim being to protect the Christian pilgrims going to 
Jerusalem. The dress of the Order consisted of a black robe 
and cowl with a white cross of eight points upon the left breast. 
The occupation of Jerusalem by the Europeans greatly modified 
and enlarged the scheme of the “ hospitallers,’’ as these knights 
came to be called. Lands and lordships in Western Europe were 
bestowed on the brotherhood by crusading princes and nobles, 
and, in addition to the “hospital,’’ which they managed at 
Jerusalem, there were many more established throughout the 
countries of the west and south of Europe. One of these 
hospitals stood on the farm of Newark, in the parish of San- 
