ROUTES 37 



but moving " only within a mile or two of the 

 coast/' He contrasts island and coastwise migra- 

 tion ; in the latter the travellers can rest at night 

 or take short journeys during bad weather, but in 

 the former they must await favourable conditions 

 before attempting a perilous passage (45). 



On the other hand many birds undoubtedly 

 pass over inland localities independently of any 

 river valley or mountain range which might indicate 

 a route. Even such typical coast-lovers as the 

 maritime waders constantly cross or pass through 

 inland England. They are heard at night, or met 

 with resting or feeding on inland waters, or their 

 bodies are found when, on a dark night, they have 

 collided with telegraph or telephone wires. 



So long ago as 1886 Mr W. Brewster maintained 

 that the breadth of the fly -line varied according 

 to the character of the country which was being 

 crossed. The migrating column, he said, might be 

 hundreds of miles in length, " a continuous but 

 straggling army/' which only became a " solid 

 stream " when travelling through some narrow pass 

 (8). This solid stream or army passage is, how- 

 ever, seldom observed when the birds are crossing 

 continents, especially if they are traversing a wide 

 area in which food is equally plentiful for miles on 

 either side of the direction of flight. The consolida- 

 tion of their numbers appears only to take place 



