Sept. 1 8, 1884] 



NA TURE 



499 



Timor Laut to those of adjacent countries : — " That the skulls 

 just described are not those of a pure race is very evident. Two 

 very distinct types can be made out, namely, the brachycephalic 

 and the dolichocephalic, the former greatly predominating in 

 number. Both from the information Air. Forbes has given us 

 as to their appearance, and from the skulls themselves, there is 

 no difficulty in recognising a strong Malay element in the popu- 

 lation. The male skull No. 4, and the female No. 6, are typi- 

 cally Malayan in their characters, especially in possessing large, 

 open, rounded orbits, and smooth forehead, the superciliary 

 ridges and glabella being almost entirely absent. The other 

 brachycephalic skulls, though not presenting such a striking 

 affinity, agree more or less with this type, but give evidence 

 of mixed characters. The dolichocephalic skull is, on the 

 other hand, markedly of the Papuan type, and corresponds 

 so closely as to be undistinguishable from two crania ob- 

 tained twenty miles inland from Port Moresby, New Guinea, 

 in the College of Surgeons' Museum, also from another from the 

 Solomon Islands. Along with this form of skull, Mr. Forbes 

 informs me, is associated frizzly hair and dark skin. The ex- 

 amination of the cranial characters of the inhabitants of Timor 

 Laut, as illustrated by the skulls before us, shows that the 

 peopling of this island is no exception to what is usually found 

 in the various groups of islands in the Polynesian Archipelago. 

 From its close proximity to New Guinea, perhaps more of the 

 Papuan element might have been expected." In addition, the 

 Coleoptera sent home have been examined and described in a 

 recent paper by Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, published in the Zoo- 

 logical Society's Proceedings. The number of species collected 

 was twenty-nine ; of these the following deserve special notice 

 on account of their geographical distribution : — Diaph&tes 

 rugpsus, a new genus and species of StaphyUnidce known from 

 Java ; Cyphogastra augulirollis, only previously known from 

 Banda ; C. splendens, a new species allied to the preceding; 

 Archetypus rugosus, belonging to a genus of Longicorns, of 

 which there was only one species previously known, which 

 species occurs in Waigiou, Dorey, and Aru ; Nimophas forbrsii, 

 a new Longicorn nearly allied to N. grayi from Amboina. 

 Further, a new species of ground thrush {Geoichla machiki) 

 has been described by Mr. Forbes from additional specimens 

 brought home by himself on his return. So that our knowledge 

 of the avifauna of this region has been increased by the addi- 

 tion of twenty-four new species, entirely collected on the lew 

 square acres to which the inter-tribal wars of the natives re- 

 stricted Mr. Forbes's operations. At the presentation of out- 

 last report, Mr. Forbes, who had just returned to England, 

 gave a short description of the region visited by him ; but at the 

 meeting of the Koyal Geographical Society, to which we have 

 referred above, he gave a more detailed account, which has been 

 published, illustrated by a map, in their Proceedings for March, 

 embodying the geographical observations made by him. The 

 collections of Fishes, Crustacea, and Hydrozoa, though contain- 

 ing much that was of interest, added few species that were new 

 to science. A statement in our last report, on p. 227, thai 

 "the total expense of Mr. Forbes's expedition has amounted to 

 300/." ought perhaps to be corrected, as we understand from 

 Mr. Forbes that the total cost was more than double this sum. 



Report of the Committee, consisting of Mr. John Cordeaux 

 (Secretary), Prof. Ncroton, Mr. f. A. Barvic-Brown, Mr. 

 William Eagle CI rk, Mr. R. 'M. Harrington, and Mr. A. G. 

 More, reappointed at Southpoi t for the Purpose of Obtaining (witn 

 the Consent of:/),- Mas er and Brethren of the Trinity House and 

 the Commission, rs of Northern and Irish Lights) Obsetvations on 

 the Migrations of Birds at Lighthouses and Lighf-vess'ls, and of 

 report ng on the same. — The General Report ] of the Committee, 

 of which this is an abstract, com; rises observations taken at 

 lighthouses and light-vessels, as well as at several land stations, 

 on the east coast of England, the east and west coasts of Scot- 

 land, the coasts of Ireland, also the Channel Islands, Orkney 

 and Shetland Isles, the Hebrides, Faroes, Iceland and Heligo- 

 land, and one Baltic station on the coast of Zealand, for which 

 the Committee is again indebted to Prof. Lfitken of Copen- 

 hagen. Altogether 158 stations have been supplied with schedules 

 and letters of instruction for registering observations, and returns 

 have been received f om 102. The best thanks of the Committee 

 are due to their numerous observers for the generally careful and 

 painstaking manner in which they have filled up the schedules, 

 and the very intelligent interest taken by them in the inquiry. 



1 " Report on the Migration of Birds in the Spring and Autumn of 1883." 

 (West, Newman, and Co., 54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C.). 



Special thanks must be accorded to Messrs. H. Gatke, Heligo- 

 land ; H. C. Miiller, Faroe ; and M. Thorlacius, Skykkesholm, 

 Iceland, for the notes sent in from their respective stations ; also 

 to Mr. J. H. Gurney, for having commenced on the south-east 

 coast of England a similar system of inquiry, which, for a first 

 trial, has worked well. In all doubtful cases of identity, where 

 birds are killed against the lantern, a wing is cut off, and a label, 

 with the date, attached. These have been forwarded in batches 

 to Mr. Gurney for identification, and with most satisfactory results. 

 The Committee regret that for the second year in succession they 

 have received no report from the west coast of England. A late 

 member of the Committee, Mr. Philip M. C. Kermode, having 

 failed to make any returns, or to send the collected schedules, 

 although repeatedly requested, to Mr. W. E. Clarke, who had 

 undertaken the work of tabulating and reporting on the same, 

 provision has been made by the Committee for supplying the 

 deficiency in any subsequent years. The observations taken on 

 the east coast of Great Britain in 1883 have been such as gener- 

 ally to confirm the conclusions arrived at in former reports, 

 having reference to direction of flight and lines of migration. 

 The winter of 1S83-4 has been exceptionally mild, and there has 

 been an almost entire absence of severe frosts and lasting snow- 

 storms ; the prevailing winds in the autumn, west and south- 

 west, such as observation shows are most favourable for migrants 

 crossing the North Sea and continuing their journey inland. 

 Winds from opposite quarters to these tire out the birds and 

 cause them to drop directly they reach land. Our land stations 

 report a great scarcity both of land and sea birds ; this has not, 

 however, been the case at sea stations — that is, light-vessels 

 moored off the coast at distances varying from five to fifty 

 miles. Here the stream of migration, so far from showing any 

 abatement, has flown steadily on in a full tide ; and, if we judge 

 from the well-filled schedules which have been returned, there 

 has been a considerable increase in the visible migration, due 

 perhaps in some measure to increased interest and improved 

 observation. Mr. William Stock, of the Outer Dowsing light- 

 vessel, remarks that he had never before seen so many birds pass 

 that station ; the rush, also, acr, ss and past Heligoland in the 

 autumn was enormous. Migration is more marked, as well as 

 concentrated, there, than at any station on the English coast. 

 There was a great movement of various species passing forward 

 on August 6 and 7, and again on the 14th, and more pro- 

 nounced still on the 21st and 22nd, and on August 20 a similar 

 movement was noticed at the Isle of May, at the mouth of the 

 Firth of Forth. It was not, however, until September 21 and 

 the two following days that the first great rush occurred on the 

 Eno-lish east coast, and a similar yreat movement or rush is indi- 

 cated, at the san.e date, in Mr. Gatke's notes, as well as from 

 the most distant of the lightships. The prevailing winds over 

 the North Sea on September 21 were moderate north-easterly 

 and easterly off the coasts of Denmark and Holland, blowing 

 strong easterly on the coast north of the Humber, with southerly 

 and south-westerly off the south-east coast, producing cross- 

 currents over the North Sea. Whatever was the impulse, at- 

 mospheric or otherwise, which induced such a vast rush of 

 various species at this time, it was one which acted alike, and 

 with precisely the same impulse, on the sea-eagle and the tiny 

 goldcrest. The second great rush was on October 12 and 13, a 

 similar movement being recorded at Heligoland. Then, again, 

 from the 27th to the 31st, and somewhat less through the first 

 week in November, the passage across Heligoland, as well as 

 the rush on our east coast, was enormous. Speaking of the 

 nights from the 27th to the 31st inclusive, Mr. Gatke says: 

 " This was the first move by the million ; for four nights there 

 has been a gigantic feathery tide running." During this time 

 there were variable winds over the North Sea, but generally 

 easterly and south-easterly on the Continent, strong west winds 

 and squalls prevailing generally on November 5 and 6. Again, 

 with the outburst of some severe weather in the first week in 

 December, a considerable local movement is indicated along the 

 coast from' north to south, culminating in the enormous rush of 

 snow-buntings into Lincolnshire about the end of the first week 

 in that month. A careful perusal of the report will show how 

 generally the rushes across Heligoland correlate with those on 

 the east coast of England, although not always confined to 

 identical species. A somewhat remarkable and very anomalous 

 movement of migrants is recorded from light-vessels of the Lin- 

 colnshire and Norfolk coasts in the spring of 1SS3. In February, 

 March, April, and May, birds passing the Leman and Ower, 

 Ll'yn Wells, Outer Dowsing, Newarp and the Cockle light- 



