H. LYNES: MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 45) 



passage at Port Said at the end of August and middle of 

 September, and these appear to have synchronized with 

 the unfavourable weather at Constantinople ; on the 

 other hand the unfavourable weather at the latter place, 

 at the end of September, fails to show a corresponding 

 influence upon the passage. 



C. Times. 



To analyze thoroughly the times of arrival and 

 departure of migrants would have required very much 

 more attention and application than I was able to give ; 

 it would necessitate the choice of a spot where one could 

 be sure that arrivals were fresh arrivals ; remaining on 

 that spot the whole time, and being ever on the alert to 

 pick up fresh arrivals and note departures. 



The more one studies observations on this point the 

 more one is driven to the conclusion, perhaps an obvious 

 one, but nevertheless worthy of note, that although the 

 main body of the migrating birds follows a certain 

 routine, yet in all species there is a rather large per- 

 centage of exceptions to this routine, and one must be 

 very cautious in drawing conclusions from single observa- 

 tions. And surely this must be so. Birds are so very 

 dependent upon weather conditions, not only for their 

 food but also for their locomotion, that to expect them 

 to move as if by clockwork would be hardly reasonable. 



So far as I could make out, the birds, speaking in a 

 broad and general way, began to arrive, that is to alight, 

 with the first streaks of dawn, the maximum intensity of 

 the movement being somewhere about sunrise, after 

 which it slowly diminished, but a fairly strong arrival 

 nearly always went on until about noon, as could be 

 observed from the ship in the harbour. From noon 

 onwards there seemed to be no further migration until 

 about half-an-hour before sunset, when a small number 

 of fresh arrivals might frequently be seen coming in 

 from the northward over the sea. This latter movement, 

 though not to be compared in intensity with that of the 



