“a 
268 BRITISH BIRDS. [VoOL. XI, 
snow, so that it is not surprising to find that the mortality 
among the birds was terrible. Some interesting notes on the 
effects in Hampshire will be found in the Field for March 14th, 
1891. Mr. T. Southwell remarks that, in Norfolk, while the 
destruction of Thrushes was very great, there was an almost 
total absence of Redwings and Fieldfares, which had previously 
passed on southward. Others of our resident species, which 
seem to have suffered severely, were Kingfishers, Herons, 
and various species of Gull. 
Another very prolonged spell of cold was that which lasted 
from about January 26th to February 18th, 1895. During 
this period the average mean temperature was below 32°. 
The frost lasted till the end of the first week of March, both 
in Derbyshire and Oxfordshire. In many respects this 
winter was not unlike 1916-17, and it is unfortunate that we 
have so little on record of its effects on Bird-life. 
In the case of the 1916-17 winter, the first real cold was 
met with at the end of November, 1916. No serious injury 
was done till late in 1917. January was cold and wintry, 
with much snow in many places, the temperature everywhere 
much below normal. February was very dry, with an un- 
usually severe frost and anticyclonic conditions. The climax 
of the cold was from February 2nd to 8th, the coldest since 
1895 in many places. The only parts unaffected were the 
south coast of Cornwall, part of west Scotland and the Irish 
coast-line. In the meteorological returns hundreds of birds 
were reported as killed at Broadford, co. Clare. From 
Totland Bay the last of twenty-two consecutive night frosts 
was reported on February llth, while at Hampstead a 
series of forty-one consecutive frosts ended on February 14th. 
Even at Limerick the ice bore for thirty-three days ending 
February 18th, and on Dartmoor frost lasted for ninety-one 
days, the longest period since 1855. 
March was also cold and unsettled, with frequent snow- 
falls. There was no real break in the cold, which was most 
severe from the 6th to the 10th, especially on the east side of 
Great Britain. 
April was marked by abnormal and persistent cold and 
frequent snowfalls, followed by drought. In Scotland cold 
and inclement weather lasted till the 17th or 18th. This 
April was the coldest for thirty or forty years, and very heavy 
snowstorms took place in Northumberland and Ireland. 
Undoubtedly these last two months were the fatal periods 
for most of our resident birds, already weakened by the long 
periods of privation in January and February. 
As will be seen from the appended list of those who have 
