PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES -?'. 



.UK! no the influx proceeds during the rent of April and the tirat half of May, and 

 beyond that date in the case of birds of passage. In backward seasons, such as that 

 of 1887 [and of 1906 (of. Paterson, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hi*t.. 1900, p. 203)] ... the 

 vanguard may be delayed for about a week, but on that occasion its appearance 

 was immediately followed by a ' rush,' and the birds became numerous and general 

 only a little in arrear of their accustomed time " (R. A. Report, loo. cit.). It will be 

 noticed from the above that the birds appear along the western seaboard of Great 

 Britain earlier than on the eastern side at corresponding latitudes. This, among 

 other points cited, has received further verification from the more recent labours 

 of the Migration Committee of the British Ornithologists' Club (of. B. 0. C. Migration 

 Reports, i.-v.),which places the swallow among the species which arrive along the 

 whole south coast of ^^fl**"**, " but first and chiefly on its western half." 



(2) Spring postage, to Northern Europe, " This movement . . . does not set 

 in till the last days of April, reaches its maximum about the middle of May, and 

 may be prolonged till nearly the middle of June." A great part of the movement 

 is therefore coincident with a great part of that just described, but it " is almost 

 wholly confined to our eastern coast, and the North Sea is crossed ere the northern 

 limit of the mainland is reached, for these travellers do not seem to take Orkney 

 or Shetland on their route." During the first three weeks of May a slight passage 

 is noted in the Outer Hebrides and on the north-west coast of Scotland : its objective 

 might be either the Faeroes or Northern Europe (cf. B. A. Report, loc. cit.). 



[(3) Spring pottage to Central Europe. The purely hypothetical counterpart of 

 " (6) " (q.v.).] 



(4) Autumn emigration of our summer resident birds. Parties of swallows are 

 frequently reported from the light-stations during July and early August, but 

 these may well be " birds merely seeking better quarters within our area. It is not 

 until the last week of August that swallows ordinarily begin to leave Scotland and 

 the north of England. Then there is a decided movement southward . . . [but] 

 there is no evidence that these birds actually quit the country, and most, if not 

 all, probably tarry for some time in the south of England before crossing the Channel. 

 The Irish movements in August are leas pronounced. ... In September the 

 southern movement becomes general throughout the whole country, and reaches its 

 maximum between the middle and end of the month. During its early days there 

 is the first evidence of actual departure from our shores, and the cross-Channel 

 emigration then commencing proceeds throughout the autumn. The beginning 

 of October shows a decided falling off in the numbers departing from the northern 



