March 



advised on the i8th March; the sand-martin was 

 reported from Hampshire on the 23rd ; the house- 

 martin from Gloucestershire on the 22nd ; the 

 swallow and redstart from Hythe on the 2 1 st ; and 

 a whinchat from Ludlow on the 2Oth. These were 

 early dates, and would once have been ascribed to 

 the mildness of the winter just past. Both the mild 

 winter, however, and the early arrival of the 

 migrants were more probably due to the same cause 

 continuous south-west winds, which had rendered 

 the winter exceptionally mild, and were ready to lend 

 powerful aid to migrants faring northwards as soon 

 as the first impulse to return was felt. 



97 



