9414 Birds. 



symptoms of distress, and at the end of the winter were in the most 

 robust health ; it seemed, indeed, that they bore the severe cold better 

 than some of our indigenous species, such as the yellowhammer {Em- 

 heriza citrinella) and the cirl bunting {E. cirlus), but this might have 

 arisen from the usual sluggish nature of the buntings. 



If, therefore, birds from the tropics can survive the cold of so severe 

 a winter as 1863 — 4, under the unfavourable conditions of exposure 

 and confinement, by which their natural exercise is very much 

 restricted, and their food not being of so varied a kind as in a wild 

 state, and therefore neither so nutritious nor so well adapted to their 

 constitutions, it may reasonably be inferred that the absence of pro- 

 per food is the main reason why, in this country, so few birds are 

 found which naturally inhabit tropical regions. 



It must, however, be admitted that purely insectivorous birds, such 

 as the n\ghUnga.]e{P/iilomelaluscinia), blackcap [Curruca atricapilla), 

 and other Sylviadje, are much less able to bear exposure than gra- 

 nivorous species, and I think this applies to nearly all the Dentiros- 

 tres : their differentiation from the Conirostres probably took place 

 at a very remote time, and their constitutions have become adapted 

 to warm climates only ; yet even in this tribe there are species, such 

 as the wagtails (Motacilla:), the robin (Erijthaca ruhecula), the stone- 

 chat {Saxicola rubicola), that remain in Britain the whole of the 

 winter. 



But any experiment made upon such species in an aviary would be 

 incomplete, because of the great difficulty of keeping any insectivorous 

 bird in confinement, even during the summer months. 



It is not, therefore, urged that climate has no direct effect in the 

 geographical distribution of birds, but that it has much less effect than 

 is generally supposed, and doubtless numbers of birds perish annually, 

 even in our exceedingly well-managed Zoological Gardens, from the 

 close, warm, impure atmosphere of the bird-room, that would be living 

 in perfect health in the open air of the aviary. 



J. Jenner Weir. 



Haddo Villas, Blacklieath. 



The Autumnal Migration at the Land's End, Cornwall. — I have had a conversa- 

 tion with our townsman, Mr. Michael Roberts, who is a preserver and collector of 

 hirds, and is conversant with our native birds. He is now employed as an officer 

 under the Trinity Board, in connexion with the new granite lighthouse now in course 

 of erection at the celebrated Wolf Rock, which is situate about nine miles to the south 

 west of the Logan Rock, and about the same distance from the Land's End. He is in 



