378 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



far in favour of this view, tliat my brother saw at Loch Leven. on the 2d May 

 last year, two flocks of wild geese numbering about a thousand, which, he 

 was informed by the boatman, had been there all winter. Such at least is 

 his recollection. 



" These flights brought to my recollection the great annual migrations of 

 birds which I witnessed in 1855-56, when stationed at Eenkioi Hospital, on 

 the Dardanelles. The hospital was situated on a flat triangle of low ground 

 projecting into the Dardanelles from the mountainous southern shore, and it 

 so happened that the course taken by the birds was right over this pro- 

 montory. The southward flight took place in October and lasted almost the 

 whole month ; nearly every day immense numbers passed, generally at a 

 great height, and always in the wedge formation, but often in such multitudes 

 as to resemble a vast network covering the sky for miles. There was a great 

 difl'erence of opinion at the hospital as to what these birds were. By aid of a 

 telescope I concluded that some of the armies were composed of storks, some 

 of geese. The latter when they came overhead sometimes broke up their 

 array and flew round and round in great confusion, cackling or rather 

 trumjieting loudly all the time, and then gradually got into order and passed 

 on. Possibly they had been accustomed to halt at this spot of land, and 

 were amazed to find it occupied by man. Previous to our arrival there was 

 not a house on the place. Some of us thought that they mistook the shining 

 tin roofs of our hospital huts for water. Some of the armies kept up this 

 peculiar trumpeting without breaking up or halting in their march. The 

 storks of course would be silent, as they have no voice. The only sound I 

 ever heard them make is when nestling in the Turkish villages. They then 

 are in the habit of bending the neck over the back till the beak nearly lies 

 along the back, and in that strange position open and shut the beak rapidly 

 several times in succession, producing a merely mechanical noise, from which 

 the Turks very appropriately call them 'klek klek.' 



"It is worthy of remark that we had fine warm weather for a month after 

 the last of those mighty armies passed. 



' ' The return northward migration took place towards the end of March and 

 in April. 



"Although the general formation was kept up, it was easy to see that the 

 individuals were continually changing their relative position ; the leader, in 

 fact, seemed to be changed every few seconds. These mighty migrations, con- 

 tinuing for a month together with little interruption, were certainly among the 

 most wonderful sights of animated nature conceivable, and I shall be glad if 

 this account of them has interested you as a student of birds." 



On 11th January, Dr Christison again writes: "With regard to my 

 observations on the flocks of geese, I must make one correction on my letter. 

 On passing the spot again to-day and consulting the map, my brother and I 

 concur in thinking that the direction of their flight would take the geese 

 considerably to the east of Loch Leven. This is a pitj'^, for it is somewhat 

 tempting to find that a line drawn from Loch Leven over the fourth milestone 

 hits directly on St Mary's Loch ! It would be so convenient to conclude that 

 the birds were flying from one loch to the other, but facts are unfcivourable. 



* ' Probably it is only because we have not eyes in the top of our heads that 

 we do not more often see flights of birds at a considerable height, j)articularly 



