IOO FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

 BIRDS. 



IN possessing the power of flight, Birds are able to over- 

 come most of the obstacles which limit the range of 

 strictly terrestrial animals. A large proportion of them 

 voluntarily undertake periodical migrations, when they 

 traverse hundreds, and even thousands of miles, between 

 the localities where they take up, respectively, their summer 

 and winter quarters. These various movements affect our 

 islands in divers ways, and make it possible to classify the 

 species found here in certain groups. 

 RESIDENTS, which do not migrate to any appreciable extent, 



such as the Sparrow, Blackbird, and Robin. 

 SUMMER MIGRANTS, which arrive here early in the year, 

 breed here, and leave in the autumn. This group in- 

 cludes most of our Warblers, Swallows, the Cuckoo, 

 Corncrake, and a mixed series of other species. 

 BIRDS OF PASSAGE which make only a temporary sojourn here 

 while travelling to and from their breeding places. 

 Many of the Waders come under this heading, and in 

 Shropshire we might instance the Golden Plover, Spotted 

 Crake, and some of the Sandpipers. 



WINTER MIGRANTS. Most of the species that stay with us in 

 Winter, have their breeding places in the North. The 

 group includes most of the Wild Ducks, Geese, and 

 Swans ; Fieldfares and Redwings ; Crossbills, Bramb- 

 lings, and many others. 



