MIGRATION IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 283 



the migrant band to reach us is the Red-backed 

 Shrike, the 4th of May being an average date ; 

 the Wryneck, which arrives at the same time, so 

 far as our records go; and finally, the Spotted 

 Flycatcher, a migrant laggard that does not appear 

 much before the middle of the month. The above 

 may be taken as a fairly representative account of 

 the movements of the individuals of those species 

 indigenous to the county, but long after our winter 

 birds have left us and our summer migrants have 

 appeared, other individuals belonging to the latter 

 species arrive, and pass over the county on their 

 way to more northern latitudes. Even such early 

 migrants as Wheatears and Swallows are some- 

 times remarked at the Eddystone Lighthouse as 

 late as the end of May and the beginning of June 

 respectively. Of course, it is utterly impossible to 

 distinguish these migrating individuals in most 

 cases when on the mainland, but their late passage 

 is an incontestable fact. 



The spring migration of birds has scarcely come 

 to an end before we have indications of the autumn 

 passage. In the Tor Bay district the appearance 

 of the Common Sandpiper upon the coast is the 

 first sign we have of the autumn migration of birds. 



