282 THE MIGRATION OF BRITISH BIRDS 



But the birds and their descendants that wintered in my 

 neighbourhood had done so for time out of mind ; they 

 came there by certain routes; thc\- knew of no more 

 southerly areas, and each time a severe season overtook 

 them they were more or less decimated. A study of 

 the various local movements and internal migrations in 

 our area alone promises some very interesting results. 

 We are often told that British ornithology is pretty well 

 played out ; here then is a new field for observation. 

 We want a carefully-kept record not only of the general 

 movements of the birds in a district, but of those that 

 pass through it, combined with keen incessant observ- 

 ation as to the causes of such movements, their direc- 

 tion and duration, and the season of the year in which 

 they are undertaken. Even a record of the summer and 

 autumn wanderings of such a common species as the 

 Sparrow will be of service. Of course these observations 

 are entirely separate from the usual migrations (if any) 

 of a species to and from any district. 



Some ver}- interesting instances of local movement 

 have been observed at our lighthouses, especially along 

 the eastern coast-lines. Others occur across the Irish 

 Sea. Equal!}- interesting movements have been re- 

 marked along the coasts. It is usually remarked that 

 these influxes correlate with periods of severe weather 

 on the Continent, or in the northern British areas. At 

 Heligoland a great deal of local winter movement takes 

 place. It is impossible in the present state of our 

 knowledge to enter into greater details. We do not 

 possess sufficient data to generalize or deduct very 

 extensivel}-. At present all we can sa}' with certainty 

 is, that this local mo\cment is a fact ; it has been 



