BIRDS 



The month of September witnesses the exodus of most of our summer 

 migrants. Large and small flocks and scattered companies of departing and 

 passing sand-martins, white-throats, willow-warblers, spotted flycatchers, ring- 

 ouzels, wheatears, chiffchaffs, swallows, house-martins, and occasional small 

 detachments of corncrakes, tree-pipits, blackcaps, and towards the close of 

 the month of whinchats, garden-warblers, sedge-warblers and redstarts are 

 reported from various localities on the south coast, the most favoured in order 

 of importance being Mount's Bay, the Lizard, Swanpool, Portscatho, and 

 Looe. Before the end of the month the sand-martin and spotted flycatcher 

 have completely disappeared, and in ordinary years only a few willow-wrens 

 and ring-ouzels are left. All the other numerically important summer 

 migrants continue with us in diminishing numbers during the month of 

 October, and odd specimens of the others just mentioned are recorded in the 

 first half of November. Stray specimens, or at the most, small parties of 

 the wood-warbler, grasshopper-warbler, reed-warbler, and nightjar have been 

 seen or obtained on migration in September and October, and in the case of 

 the reed-warbler twice in November, apparently always in the company of 

 other migrants. 



During the month of September wide-spread movements are in process 

 among the resident species. Large flocks of pied wagtails, chaffinches, 

 linnets, greenfinches, skylarks, meadow-pipits and goldcrests enter and leave 

 the county ; while, as a rule, the song-thrushes, wrens, coots, mallards, teal, 

 and particularly the starlings, receive reinforcements from the outside. The 

 most interesting winter visitor of the month, though generally occurring 

 singly, is the black redstart, which in some years continues to arrive irregu- 

 larly throughout the winter. A few wigeon may put in an appearance, and 

 the advent of one or two jack-snipe heralds the approach of the great 

 autumnal migratory invasion from the north-east. Among the birds on 

 passage are the curlew-sandpiper, the green sandpiper, the yellow wagtail, the 

 black tern, and occasionally the wry-neck and dotterel, in addition, of course, 

 to the whimbrel, knot, sanderling and turnstone. 



The great event in October is the inrush of winter visitors. The 

 summer migrants have now practically left the county, with the exception of 

 the house-martin, swallow and wheatear, large numbers of which may still 

 linger on. By the middle of the month the last flock of martins departs ; by 

 the twentieth the swallows, too, have vanished, except for small companies 

 and stragglers; and before the close the last of the wheatears has disappeared. 

 By the time the swallows and martins leave us the great migratory stream 

 from the north-east has become fully established, and from northern and 

 north-central Europe sweeps diagonally across England into this far corner, 

 bringing not only our typical winter visitors like the fieldfare, redwing, 

 golden plover, jack snipe, woodcock, siskin and brambling, but large flights 

 of snipe, and immense flocks of lapwings, starlings, larks, and occasionally of 

 thrushes and warblers, and naturally a number of waifs and strays that have 

 been caught up in the migratory rush, and carried far away from their 

 normal lines of flight. Probably most of the birds brought to the county in 

 this great stream continue their journey with or without a pause, but large 

 numbers of course settle down for the winter. 



During the month of October nearly all our other winter visitors arrive, 



