A BIRDLOVER'S YEAR 



winter visitors, and work their way inland 

 by overland journeys. With severe weather 

 the number of departing birds is largely 

 increased. 



The next movement to notice is the 

 autumn immigration of the song thrush from 

 Western Europe, when the birds cross the 

 southern waters of the North Sea by an 

 east to west route from the coast of Holland 

 to South-Eastern England. Mr. Eagle 

 Clarke, whose researches upon the pheno- 

 mena of bird migration are quite unrivalled, 

 has given in his delightful book (" Studies 

 in Bird Migration." Edinburgh : Oliver 

 and Boyd) the most minute details of these 

 complicated journeys. He relates how in 

 the autumn of 1903, when residing on board 

 the Kentish Knock lightship (stationed in 

 the North Sea), he observed several " rushes " 

 of song thrushes between September 18 

 and October 19. These "rushes" took 

 place between the hours of midnight and 

 4 A.M., and in company with the thrushes 

 were redstarts, pied flycatchers, missel- 

 thrushes, blackbirds, meadow-pipits, wheat- 

 ears, starlings, skylarks, chaffinches, rooks, 

 and jackdaws. 



B 17 



