A BIRDLOVER'S YEAR 



problems in connexion with this wonderful 

 subject. 



We must not confound tne regular migra- 

 tion of birds with local movements. For 

 instance, the voyage of the sandpiper from 

 the banks of the Tay to its winter quarters 

 in Africa is quite a different affair from the 

 oyster-catcher leaving our midlands for the 

 coast-lines. Migration proper is that mys- 

 terious instinct which urges many birds to 

 set out twice a year on a long and perilous 

 expedition by certain well-defined routes ; 

 and we owe much to the patient researches 

 of those naturalists who have taken up their 

 quarters in such spots as Heligoland, the 

 west of Denmark, and Fair Isle, over which 

 the stream of migration passes, for most 

 of the knowledge we possess. 



Lighthouses and lightships are the best 

 stations from which to study the subject at 

 first hand. The Isle of May, for instance, is 

 visited yearly by two naturalists, Miss 

 Rintoul and Miss Baxter, who compile most 

 interesting reports on the various birds 

 which, passing that region, are attracted 

 by the great lantern. The fact that hundreds 

 of birds are killed by dashing themselves 

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