1 9 1 8 . ] Birds of the Isle of May . 25 7 



by clay it improved till it was able to take short flights; 

 these gradually became longer till one day it had left us 

 and, we will hope, arrived safely at its winter quarters. 



We were surprised to find how many of the migrants, in 

 spring, sang while resting on the island. We have heard 

 many Willow- Warblers, Sedge-Warblers, Whitethroats, 

 Skylarks, Whinchats, Wheatears, and Greater Wheatears, 

 singing vigorously. A fine male Reed- Bunting woke us one 

 morning by singing just outside our window, and early on 

 the 9th of May, 1911, we heard the unmistakable song of 

 the Nightingale, while the dissyllabic note of the Cuckoo 

 is often heard all over the island. The number of birds 

 attracted to the lantern in spring is usually very much less 

 than that of the autumn movements, but the charm of these 

 spring rushes is greatly enhanced by the fact that the birds 

 often come fluttering up the rays of light singing as they 

 come. One May morning we stood on the balcony of the 

 lighthouse from midnight to 3 a.m. watching a big rush 

 of Willow- Warblers^ Whinchats, Wheatears, and other 

 migrants. There was a light south-east wind and small rain, 

 and though many birds were attracted by the light they did 

 not dash themselves against the glass, but merely fluttered 

 sin<;ing up to the lantern and remained gazing in, fascinated 

 by its powerful rays. After an arrival of migrants in spring, 

 quite a large number of Warblers might be heard in song at 

 the same time, answering each other from the walls round 

 the fields, from the fences and bushes in the gardens, from 

 thistle top and hemlock spray. 



We have no intention of attempting to describe a rush, 

 for the all-sufficient reason that it is indescribable; there 

 are, however, certain differences between spring and autumn 

 rushes which we would like to mention. In spring the 

 birds seem more hurried than in autumn, not lingering on 

 the island but hastening on, urged apparently by a stronger 

 impulse than that which impels them in autumn. The mag- 

 nitude of the autumn rushes, in our experience, exceeds 

 that of those in spring, and the period of the spring passage 



