OF THE DISTRICT. 205 
The following is an extract from my ‘‘ Review of 1879,” read 
before the Zoological Section, November 13th, 1879 :—‘‘ Never 
‘before have I known a winter in which on every mild day after 
‘Christmas the Throstle failed to sing in our garden (at Chester.) 
‘Last winter I heard one sing but once, on January 30th, and 
“never again till April 30th! And wherever I have been in 
‘different parts of England, I have observed how rare it was to 
‘‘hear the song of the Throstle.”’ Perhaps in consequence of 
this scarcity, slugs and snails were extraordinarily abundant in 
the summer of 1879. Severe winters continued till they culmi- 
nated in the tremendous frost of January 16th, 1881, so that it 
was not until 1884 that the Throstles had materially increased 
in numbers, when, however, they seemed to be as common as 
they were before 1879. Blackbirds, a bolder and hardier bird 
than the Throstle, were much less reduced in number. 
A. O. W. 
Birps FLyInG WESTWARD IN SNOWSTORMS. 
My lamented friend, Mr. J. Price, writes: ‘‘ Always, during 
‘heavy falls of snow, large flocks of Larks and Starlings kept 
“passing Pwllycrochan (Colwyn Bay) westward, all day long. 
“‘Query—for Anglesea or Ireland?” I observed the same 
phenomenon, also at Colwyn Bay, on December sth, 1892, as 
shown in the annexed extract from my Diary :—‘‘ Another 
“horrible day” (the 4th had been similar): ‘‘ heavy showers of 
** snow and hail, with strong wind from N.W. to N.: ground 
*‘ covered with snow slush. At 10-30 a.m. saw immense num- 
“ bers of birds—Peewits, Sea Gulls, Rooks, and innumerable 
‘small birds apparently of the Thrush family, all flying due W.— 
“not along the coast. They were from 20 to 100 yards above 
“the earth. On going home at 4-30, the trees by the drive were 
*¢ filled with hundreds of birds, which in the dusk looked like 
“‘Redwings.” The drive is along the slope of a steep and high 
hill facing E.S.E., and the trees out of which the birds flew 
when I passed were Cupressus macrocarpa, and other Conifers. 
The migrating birds seem to have struck this hill late in che 
afternoon, and decided to avail themselves of the shelter. They 
had all disappeared next morning. What is perplexing about 
the westerly flight is that, unless the birds stopped in the 
Conway valley, their line of flight would take them into the 
heart of the Carnarvonshire mountains, where they would be 
worse off than ever! I noticed the same phenomenon some 
years ago at Bournemouth. A. O. W. 
Hooper Swans (Cygnus musicus.) 
On the 1zth of January, 1871, I was walking down the valley 
between Holywell and Bagillt when I was struck by a singular 
sound which at first I could not assign to any part of the 
surrounding country. At last, I happened to look upwards and 
there, against a blue sky and with the low winter sun shining 
F2 
