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928 Col. R. Meinertzliagen on the Altitude [Ibis, 



the water, many parties eontinuiiig their passage 

 south over land only a few inches above the ground. 

 Lynes also noted Quail arriving near Port Said and 

 flying low. 

 Stock Dove. They travel ou migration at al)out 100 feet on 

 autumn passage over Orenburg. (Grote.) 

 Such is the all too scanty evidence, and it will be seen at 

 a oiance how little refers to nocturnal movements : but as 

 evidence o£ nocturnal movement, we must accept the 

 observation of birds arriving after a migratory flight, and 

 the calling of migrating birds which is so frequently heard 

 by night. 



All evidence of the arrival of birds after a long migrator} 

 flight points to the fact that no excessive height is reached 

 during flight. The Cranes at Damascus, :ind Quails and 

 Hoopoe at Port Said and Rafa, do not indicate excessive 

 height. 



As regards the calling of migrants by night, such noises, 

 when heard on clear still evenings, must 1 e accepted as 

 evidence under normal conditions. Now the European 

 Bee-eater is an excellent example, because it is an incessant 

 caller when migrating ; it travels by both day and night, and 

 is connnon enough and of sufficiently wide distribution to 

 give us ample opportunities of observation. I have observed 

 daylight passage in East Africa, Baluchistan, Palestine, and 

 in Egypt, and have always endeavoured to note the altitude 

 of flight and accustom myself to the degree of intensity of 

 the note at the various elevations. Results from such 

 o-uess-work are necessarily unsatisfactory but constitute a 

 guide. 



I have never heard Bee-eaters passing without being able 

 to locate them, though sometimes they could not be discovered 

 ah initio without the aid of binoculars, and I doubt whether 

 any such diurnal flight as observed by me extended to over 

 3000 feet. An argument may be advanced that others were 

 passing out of sight and hearing ; but I would mention that 

 the Bee-eater's call carries far. I i-ecentl}^ in (Jrete, when 

 at an elevation of GOOO feet, heard a flying Raven croaking 



