X INTRODUCTION. 



by open error. Hence the Goshawk and Golden Eagle,- Pine- 

 grosbeak, Crested, Calandra and Short-toed Larks, Little Ringed 

 Plover, Harlequin Duck and some other species have been 

 suppressed : while, the Eagle Owl and Great Black Woodpecker 

 have been placed within brackets, and are excluded from the 

 census of the Ornis of Devon. Savi's Warbler might have been 

 added to this with some show of reason, since Mr. Harting records 

 eggs of this species as taken in Devon (Handbook of British 

 Birds p. 15) ; but this is considered as hardly conclusive, nor is 

 the Roseate Tern included. Mr. Gatcombe was told that two 

 birds of this sjiecies were seen in Plymouth Sound in April, 1874 

 (Zool. 1874. p. 4105), but there is uo proof that the species was 

 correctly identified. Devonshire, judged by our present returns, 

 includes a total number of 287 species, and of this aggregate, 108 

 are breeding species, 42 are winter visitants, 25 are periodical 

 visitants, and 112 species must be regarded as waifs and strays, or 

 at least irregular visitants. 



IV.— MIGRATION. 



It is popularly supposed that many birds reside with us 

 throughout the year, but recent researclies indicate the inherent 

 probability that the majority of birds are wholly migrants, or, at 

 any rate, partially so. We have therefore to face the problem, 

 ' hy what routes, do birds travel to, and depart from Devon.?' At 

 present, any attempt to decide this must be accepted as purely 

 tentative. It is quite true that the subject has long been 

 partially considered. A century ago, Mr. Laskey was as much 

 interested in deciding the route followed by the Swallows, which 

 he observed to leave the coast of Devon, as we ourselves can 

 possibly be. But the fact that birds travel to a very large extent 

 during the night, serves to hinder the elucidation of their 

 movements to no small extent. It is also to be regretted that the 

 observations of the Lighthouse keepers collected by the Migration 



* The White-tailed Eagle, reported by the late Mr. Cecil Smith, as killed at Dove, 

 was originally recorded as a Golden Eagle, Science Gossip, 1872. pp.115. 116. Ibid, 1874. 

 pp. 214. 283. Old traditions of Golden Eagles are equally worthless. 



