102 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
of destruction. Should a strong cold wind from the north-west be blowing, 
the course of the birds is close to the ground, and thousands are captured 
in the nets. There is considerable competition for what are considered the 
best pitches, numbers of men leaving Brighton shortly after midnight, and 
depositing their packs on the ground they intend to occupy, to reserve the 
spot ; they seek what shelter they can till daylight behind some bank or 
stack. From thirty to fifty dozen are commonly captured, and the takes 
not unfrequently reach as high as eighty dozen. I have myself seen over 
two hundred clap-nets at work on a favourable day; and, as scores of 
drag-nets are out as soon as dusk sets in, some idea of the number of birds 
caught may be formed.—E. T. Boorn (Dyke Road, Brighton). 
Micration or Brrps in THE WINTER oF 1877-78.—The immigration © 
of birds on our north-east coast has, during the present season, in some 
respects been most peculiar, extending, as it has done, over a most unusual 
period. As a general rule, we expect the most laggard of our immigrants to 
have arrived by the middle of November. Any coming after this date are 
such as are driven southward by stress of weather from the more northern 
districts of our island, and as a rule do not come from the north of Europe. 
The exceptionally mild winter in Scandinavia has induced many to tarry 
long past their usual period for migration,—instance the Blackbirds and 
Fieldfares, which have come in pretty regularly at intervals up to the 
present date. Woodcocks have also been most erratic in their movements. 
Mr. Gatke, writing from Heligoland, Jan. 27th, says, “ For some weeks we 
have had almost every day some Woodcocks, as also Blackbirds; the latter, 
however, are no exception, but the former very much so at this time.” A 
very mild season over all the north of Europe, with occasional short bursts 
of severe weather, lasting only a few days, has sent the birds southward in 
great rushes, with long intervals of comparative cessation in the stream 
of migrants. From the 23rd to the 27th of January we had some rather 
sharp weather, frost and snow from N.W. and W.N.W. The consequence 
has, apparently, been a considerable migration of the laggards from 
Scandinavia, for Mr. Gitke reports as follows :—‘ January. Night, from 
27th to 28th, Turdus pilaris, countless flights. 29th, from 9 a.m. and 
earlier to 4 p.m., Colymbus septentrionalis. An uninterrupted stream of 
birds from N.N.E. to $.S.W. passing to the east of the island. Constantly 
from eight to twelve in focus of glass. February 2nd, East in the 
morning ; N. and N. by E. in the evening, Turdus merula, from twenty to 
forty, as I fancy from the north.” In North Lincolnshire we have had 
scarcely any Snipe this winter, and I have only shot a couple, and these 
early in the season. Of Jack Snipe I have not seen a single example—not 
even in the local game-shops. The total absence of the latter is curious, 
as there are many favourite haunts in this district, where, in other seasons, 
