MIGRATION AND PLIGHT. 89 



as in the preceding case, that no young birds, from the 

 moment of their taking wing, ever returned to the house, either 

 for the purpose of forming nests of their own in so safe and 

 comfortable an asylum, or disputing possession with the old 

 ones for the tenement in which they were born and bred. But, 

 besides these regular migratory birds, others seem to possess 

 a similar instinctive power ; for instance, a Robin which fre- 

 quented a greenhouse was caught, and a piece of silk being tied 

 round its leg, it was put into a bag, and carried to a distance 

 of some miles, and then turned loose. In three days it was 

 found in the greenhouse. 



One other peculiarity in the periodical visits of birds to their 

 breeding stations, is the punctuality of their arrival. There is 

 seldom the difference of a week, and frequently not that of a 

 day, in the time of the appearance of some particular species. 

 Of course we cannot be accurate in most cases, from not being 

 able to fix on the exact moment of a bird's arrival ; but in 

 some instances, circumstances afford us the means of speaking 

 more positively. Thus, on a well-known rocky island, called 

 the South Stack, near Holyhead, the lighthouse keepers 

 assured us that the Gulls, which seldom visit the island for 

 two-thirds of the year, arrive on the same night, namely, 

 February icth, for the purpose of breeding. They are 

 regularly warned of the arrival of their summer guests, about 

 midnight, by a great noise, as it were a mutual greeting and 

 cheering ; and from that moment they remain till their broods 

 are reared, and the business for which they resorted thither 

 entirely at an end. 



The light-keepers spoke with pleasure of the arrival of the 

 birds, saying that they looked to their return as that of so 

 many old acquaintances after a long absence, announcing the 

 spring to be at hand, and the winter to be over and gone. 



In alluding to light-keepers, we may mention a curious 

 circumstance connected with birds of passage, namely, that 

 during their migrations in the night, they frequently fly with 

 such force against the strong plate-glass reflectors of light- 

 houses, as to be killed on the spot Instances of this have 



