268 hefout— 1884. 



five lightvessels, Laving no communication with each other, reporting the 

 same circumstances, proves the correctness of the observations. 



On the east coast of Scotland Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown says that the 

 autumn migration of 1883 was pronounced, culminating in a grand rush 

 from October 28th to November 3rd. The heaviest rush of birds, as com- 

 pared with other years, was observed at the Isle of May on October loth 

 and 14th. This was with a south wind, although as a rule it is a south- 

 east wind at that point which brings the greatest flights. 



In the autumn of 1882, on the east coast of Scotland, the bulk of 

 immigrants are recorded at the southern stations; in 1883 these condi- 

 tions were reversed, the bulk being recorded from northern stations. On 

 the east coast of England, in 1883, birds appear to have been very equally 

 distributed over the whole coast-line. It will be gathered from the General 

 Report that the dates of the rushes on the east coast of Scotland were 

 slightly later than those on the east coast of England, and that the 

 migrations past the more northerly stations in Scotland were in propor- 

 tion later than in the south, and also that the dates of the heaviest rushes 

 on the east coast agree fairly with the dates from the west coast. 



From the coasts of Ireland Messrs. A. G. More and It. M. Barrington 

 report a decided improvement in filling up the schedules, in some cases 

 three or four being returned from the same station. Forty-two stations 

 were supplied with schedules in the spring of 1883 and thirty- five in the 

 autumn of the same year, returns coming in from thirty-four, one only 

 failing. 



The number of migrants in the autumn seems to have been more than 

 usual. A gi'eat rush of thrushes (including, probably, redwings), black- 

 birds, and starlings, took place at the south-eastern and southern stations 

 between October 25th and November 2nd — dates which agree with the 

 great rush on the east coast of England. The migration was particularly 

 marked at the Tuskar rock off the Wexford coast, which is proving itself 

 the best Irish station, and no doubt mai'ks the line of the chief passage 

 from the British coast. The bulk of the immigrants appear to arrive on 

 the south-eastern coast of Ireland, excepting such birds as the bernicle 

 goose and snow-bunting, which are mainly recorded from north-western 

 stations, and rarely entered in schedules from the east or south coast. 



An interesting feature this year is the occurrence of several examples 

 of the Greenland falcon on the west coast, no less than eight having been 

 shot at various points from Donegal to Cork and one Iceland falcon at 

 Westport. 



Independent of the ordinary notes on migration, the general remarks 

 of the lightkeepers with reference to the nesting of sea-fowl on the islands 

 or outlying skerries are of great interest, and no matter what results are 

 arrived at from this special inquiry, it is satisfactory to be in correspond- 

 ence with such a number of observers at isolated spots around the coast, 

 and the information supplied cannot fail to be of much interest to future 

 compilers. 



An interesting feature of the autumn migration is the occurrence of a 

 flight of the blue-throated warbler (Cyanecida suecica). A single adult 

 with bright-blue breast was observed at the Isle of May on the night of 

 September 2-3rd. On the east coast, of England twelve were obtained, all 

 being birds of the year, and of these nine on the coast of Norfolk, besides 

 about twenty others seen by competent observers. Very few goldcrests, 

 compared with the enormous flights of the autumn of 1882, have ap- 



