374 REPORT — 1901. 



wholly confined to our eastern coast, and the North Sea is crossed ere 

 the northern limit of the mainland is reached, for these travellers do not 

 seem to take Orkney or Shetland on their route. A small number of 

 Swallows yearly visit the Hebrides during the first three weeks of May, 

 and it is possibly these birds, or some of them, that find their way to the 

 Fseroes,^ and even as stragglers to Iceland, while others may, perhaps, 

 finally reach Northern Europe by this far western route, which may 

 originate, so far as the British Isles are concerned, on the east coast of 

 Ireland and west coast of England. A few are also observed about the 

 same time on the north-west coast of Scotland. 



Autttnvn Emigration of British Summer Visitors. — During the latter 

 half of July parties of Swallows are recorded as visiting the island 

 stations and lightships ofi' the east coast of Great Britain and the south- 

 east of Ireland, but it may be doubted if such appeai'ances are of much 

 significance, though it may be otherwise with some recorded in 1880, when 

 during the spell of cold weather six flocks of from fifty to sixty each 

 were observed passing to the south on July 27 at the Tees Buoy Light- 

 ship, and two days later numbers passed the Leman and Ower Lightvessel, 

 off the Norfolk coast — some alighting, while one struck. But even if 

 these were cases of real migration, it may have been but partial, and the 

 birds merely seeking better quarters within our area. It is not until the last 

 week of August that Swallows ordinarily begin to leave Scotland and the 

 north of England. Then there is a decided movement southward, and, 

 along with Redstarts and Willow-warblers, they are observed at various 

 stations both on the coast and inland. There is no evidence that these 

 birds actually quit the country, and m.ost, if not all, probably tarry for 

 some time in the south of England before crossing the Channel. The Irish 

 movements in August are less pronounced, but the returns show a decided 

 increase of visitors to the coast stations, and indicate the setting in of the 

 ebb. In Sej^tember the southern movement becomes general throughout 

 the whole country, and reaches its maximum between the middle and 

 end of the month. During its early days there is the first evidence of 

 actual departure from our shores, and the cross-channel emigration then 

 commencing proceeds throughout the autumn. The beginning of October 

 shows a decided falling off in the numbei's departing from the northern 

 districts, especially in the west ; but the southward movement is well 

 maintained during the first half of the month from the east and south- 

 west of England and the south-east of Ireland. By the middle of the 

 month the emigration from Scotland and the north of England is over, 

 and Swallows ol)served after that time on the east coast of Britain seem 

 to be the later emigrants from Scandinavia, which since September have 

 been passing along that coast, mingling with our own birds, so that in 

 many cases the two movements are indistinguishable. After the middle 

 of October a considerable diminution is observable, except on the coast of 

 the Channel, where the efflux is maintained throughout the month. 

 During the first half of November stragglers are still to be seen on the 

 east coast of Great Britain and the south-east of Ireland, but there are 

 no I'ecords of observations in the west of Scotland, and very few from 

 the north-west of England. From the south of England many departures 

 occur annually till the middle of the month, while stragglers are to be 



' Herr Knud Andersen informs me that the Swallow appears not uncommonly 

 in the Fseroes in May, 



