SS 
Birp NOTEs. Mare 
perienced last season, and he for one would not care if he never 
saw a similar one. Autumn came on, and was characterised by 
extremely rapid movement of birds southwards. Birds did not 
linger as they usually did, but passed on with great rapidity, 
many of the species which were in the habit of staying for weeks. 
passing by in a single day or night. Night was the usual time 
for travelling, and in many cases their identity could only be 
made out from a considerable experience of their notes. The 
notes of birds travelling at night during the autumn migration 
differed from these emitted during the migration northward in the 
spring, and both series of notes were widely different from any 
that they emitted while feeding or courting, or sitting at their 
usual daily occupation in the fields, woods, or hedges. That 
constituted one of the particular charms of migration, because at 
night, when the birds were passing, as they always did—and he 
had heard spme of them as he came along to that meeting—they 
emitted notes which were of extreme interest and of considerable 
value to migration data. The great bulk of these birds made no 
attempt at song, but by means of their squeaking chirps or 
cheeps they were able, if he might so express it, to keep in touch 
with one another on their journey. An unusually large number 
of birds passed the winter with us, including any number of wild 
ducks, and at least four species of geese. These grand winter 
visitors, the wild swans, also put in considerable appearance, 
and the bird observer and others had ample employment during 
the last winter to watch the different species. One instance he 
might mention was rather rare, and he happened upon it by 
mere chance. On the 12th of last December he was on business 
along the Kirkcudbright coast, and at that time they had a long 
series of stormy winds. Birds were driven off their usual feeding 
grounds, and that particular day, during a calm between storms, 
he was astonished to see thousands of birds in a grass field near 
the Manxman’s Lake, off the ordinary shore, and well up among 
the pasture lands, and not far from the hedge along the public 
road. A large proportion of the birds were bar-tailed godwits, 
which were extremely shy birds. He was privileged to get pretty 
close to them, but they were unconscious of any intruder about. 
He watched them indulging in their usual interesting habits, and 
picking up worms, grubs, caterpillars, and beetles in a way one 
could hardly think possible with such a long up-turned bill, all 
