ON BIRD MIGRATION. 411 



In Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, so far as actual records are concerned, 

 the White Wagtail is decidedly uncommon on passage in the spring. 



It is not until we reach the coast of Haddingtonshire that we have 

 any adequate information regarding the passage of the present species 

 along the east coast. Here, thanks to information privately supplied to 

 me by my friend Mr. Wm. Evans, it is possible to find the bird in 

 numbers, sometimes in considerable numbers, by looking for it, in April 

 and at the beginning of May. I have myself seen the bird in both 

 spring and autumn on the southern shores of the Firth of Forth. 



North of this the only definite record for the eastern mainland known 

 to me refers to its occurrence at Inverness during April. 



In the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland there are a considerable 

 number of records of Pied Wagtails (J/, lugubris) during the late days 

 of Api-il and early May, for the Pentland Skerries in Orkney and for 

 Whalsey Skerries and Dunrossness in Shetland, which, I have little dovxbt, 

 from the lateness of the dates, refer to the passage of the White Wagtail.^ 



Saxby - records the bird from Unst on two occasions in spring, namely, 

 for June 1854 and May 1867. I am, however, not a little dubious as to 

 the identity of certain migratory flocks of Pied Wagtails which that 

 observer mentions as appearing in the spring on their way north, and 

 again in September on their way south, for that bird is an uncommon 

 species in Scandinavia.'' 



Autumn Vassage. — The return movement from the north is initiated by 

 the appearance of the White Wagtail upon our coasts from mid-August 

 onwards. The earliest date I have is for August 15, 1894, at Barra. From 

 this date until the middle of September it occurs in parties proceeding 

 south at the Hebridean stations of Barra and Tiree ' with great regu- 

 larity. 



The autumn passage, however, is not a prolonged one, and the latest 

 record for the bii'd's occurrence in Britain, known to me, refers to a pair 

 of adults observed in Oxfordshire on September 27, 1885.'' 



The return movement probably aff'ects both the east and west coasts 

 of the mainland, as the data faintly indicate. It is remarkable, however, 

 that outside the Hebrides and the Forth area our information is of a very 

 meagre nature, and the bird does not appear to have been observed on 

 the east coast of England, or anywhere in Ireland in the autumn.** 



' During a visit to the southern portion of Shetland in the latter half of September, 

 1900, I found the White Wagtail abundant on passage ; not a single example of the 

 Pied Wagtail was observed. 



- Birds pf Shetland, p. 81. 



^ At Heligoland the spring passage of the White Wagtail commences at mid- 

 March, and continues until the early days of May. 



* The Hebridean records (1892-1899) for the autumn migration of this species 

 are as follows :— 1892, September 1 ; 1893, August 24, 25, and 29 ; 1894, August 15 ; 

 1896, August 24 ; 1897, August 17 and September 2 and 3 ; 1898, August 24, Septem- 

 ber 7 and 15 ; 1899, August 18. 



^ Since the above was written, a single bird was noted in Southern Shetland on 

 October 3, 1900. 



« On the west shores of the Continent the autumn passage is regularly observed. 

 At Heligoland it commences at mid-August, and continues until mid-October. 



During our ill-fated visit to the island of Ushant, which lies immediately to 

 the south of our extreme south-west coast, in early September 1898, Mr. Laidlaw 

 and I saw many White Wagtails on migration. On some days as many as two 

 hundred came under our notice, and parties of from twenty to thirty were not 

 uncommon. 



