MIGRATION. 159 



Europe. In England, the thrush, the skylark, 

 etc., are stationary; but every winter, especially 

 if the season be severe, the flocks of our home- 

 bred birds are increased by arrivals from the 

 north. In northern Germany, Denmark, Swe- 

 den, and Norway, the redbreast is migratory, 

 departing southwards in autumn. In our island, 

 in France, and throughout southern Europe 

 generally, it is stationary ; as it is also in south- 

 western Asia, and northern Africa. In Portugal, 

 the quail appears to be stationary ; but the 

 quails which visit our island and the adjacent 

 parts of the continent, move southwards in 

 autumn, visit the islands of the Mediterranean, 

 and pass to the shores of northern Africa. In 

 the northern parts of our island, the swallow, 

 the cuckoo, the goatsucker, and others, are 

 from a week to ten days later before making 

 their appearance than they are in our southern 

 counties ; and what is singular, some birds never 

 visit either our western or northern counties, or 

 at least very rarely. The nightingale, for ex- 

 ample, which annually visits northern Germany, 

 and even Sweden, is rare in Yorkshire, and 

 unknown further north ; its appearance in 

 Wales, in Devonshire, in Cornwall, is of rare 

 occurrence, while in Ireland it has never been 

 seen, as far as we can learn. Its rival in melody, 

 the blackcap, however, is a summer guest in 

 Scotland. In Madeira, the latter bird is a per- 

 manent resident. In like manner, those birds 

 which leave our island in autumn, reside longer 

 in the southern counties than they do in the 



