ON THE MIGRATION OF THE JAY. 3 



the first impulse to move began at the extreme east or west of 

 the range, extending backward or forward, we have unfortunately 

 no means of knowing. 



It will be interesting to learn if any great flight of Jays, 

 corresponding in any degree with the thousands that crossed 

 Heligoland, have been observed anywhere by our sharp-eyed 

 reporters on the English coast, or any considerable increase in 

 the ordinary number frequenting our woodlands. Previous to 

 receiving Mr. Gatke's letter I had made a note of the number 

 seen in shooting some small plantations in this neighbourhood, 

 but certainly not exceeding double what we might expect to see 

 under any circumstances. 



Mr. Stevenson, in the ' Birds of Norfolk,' vol. i., p. 280, con- 

 jectures that the Norfolk Jays receive at times considerable 

 accessions to their number in the autumn. So far as I am 

 aware there is no direct evidence of the fact, except the state- 

 ment, as given by Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear,* to the effect 

 that " Some years since, as two gentlemen were sporting at 

 Tunstal, in Suffolk, distant about five miles from the sea, they 

 observed an extraordinary flight of Jays, passing in a single line 

 from seaward to the interior. This line extended further than 

 the eye could reach, and must have consisted of some thousands. 

 Several of them were killed as they passed ; but the firing at them 

 did not occasion the rest to deviate from their line of flight." 



It may be that the Jays seen crossing Heligoland passed 

 southward along the European coast-line, as we know is the case 

 with many birds which regularly cross that island in large 

 numbers, and which rarely turn up on our own coast, except 

 perhaps as solitary examples : be this as it may, however, this 

 migration in such enormous numbers is a wonderful and striking 

 phenomenon, and supplies cause for much conjecture — conjecture 

 as to the "how and why" of this simultaneous movement; 

 whether a mere normal phenomenon, which, under certain con- 

 ditions of wind and weather, is at long intervals brought within 

 the notice of the Heligolanders, or a something out of the 

 ordinary range of migration due to a scarcity of food, or some 

 other cause which long patient waiting and extended observation 

 alone can determine. 



* ' A Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, with remarks,' 1826. 



