xxiv. INTRODUCTION. 



4. The Woodcock appears about Michaelmas, and leaves 

 us about the beginning of March, but is sometimes detained 

 till the middle of April. 



5. Snipes are considered by Mr. White as birds of pas- 

 sage, though he acknowledges that they frequently breed 

 with us. Mr. Pennant remarks, that their young are so fre- 

 quently found in Britain, that it may be doubted whether 

 they ever entirely leave this island. 



6. The Judcock. 



7. The Wild Pigeon. [Of the precise time of its arrival 

 we are not quite certain, but suppose it may be some time 

 in April. Some ornithologists assert that they do not mi- 

 grate. Very little seems to be certainly known of the stay 

 and departure of this species of Dove.] 



8. The Wild Swan frequents the coasts of this island in 

 large flocks, but it is not supposed to breed with us. It 

 has been chiefly met with in the northern parts, and is 

 said to arrive at Lingey, one of the Hebrides, in October, 

 and to remain there till March, when it retires more north- 

 ward to breed. 



9. The Wild Goose passes southward in October, and 

 returns northward in April.* 



With regard to the Duck kind in general, they are mostly 

 birds of passage. Mr. Pennant says, "Of the numerous 

 species that form this genus, we know of no more than five 

 that breed here, viz., the Tame Swan, the Tame Goose, the 

 Shield Duck, the Eider Duck, and a very small number of 

 the Wild Ducks : the rest contribute to form that amazing 

 multitude of water fowls that annually repair from most 



* Sometimes, for reasons not yet accounted for by naturalists, 

 they return northward at the latter end of the year. 

 A flock passed over Newcastle northward on the 6th of December, 



1813. 



Another passed on the 22nd of December, 1813. 

 Another on the 25th November, 1814. 



One passed southward on the I2th December, 1814, and they have 

 often since been noticed to pass in the same way. 



