274 REPORT— 1902. 



has been received from various lighthouses and lightships on the South 

 Coast of England, the men as before taking very great interest in the 

 inquiry, and returning with excellent results the schedules furnished to 

 them. Encouraged by this success, schedules have again been sent out 

 for the present year. Your Committee respectfully request to be again 

 i"eappointed, if possiblej with a renewed grant of money. 



RpfOTt by Mr. Clarke. 



During the past year much advance has been made with the histories 

 bf the migrations undertaken by Certain species of British birds, and those 

 relating to the Fieldfare and the Lapwing are herewith submitted to the 

 Committee. 



In addition to the various sources of information laid under contribu- 

 tion in their preparation, and mentioned in previous reports, much valuable 

 and highly desirable material has been obtained from the Light-stations 

 bn and off the south coast of England, thanks to the obliging assiduity 

 of the light-keepers, who have furnished numerous and excellent schedules, 

 many of them replete with useful observations, and in not a few cases 

 accompanied by wings of specimens they were unable to identify. 



In September and October last I spent a month in the Eddystone 

 Lighthouse, and added much to the pi'actical experience I had previously 

 gained at various land stations around our coasts. 



The Migrations of the Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). 



The home of the Fieldfares which visit the British Islands is in Norway 

 or Sweden, the former presumably for the most part. The species does 

 not breed in Iceland as the Redwing {^Turdus iliacus) does, and there is 

 no evidence to show that any of the small colonies established in various 

 parts of Central Europe (Pomerania, Thuringia, and Bavaria) ever contri- 

 bute to the throng that arrives on our shores. 



The British migrations of this species may be taken as being generally 

 typical of those of (1) a winter visitor to our islands from North-western 

 Europe, and (2) of a bird of passage en route from and to its northern 

 summer home and winter quarters lying to the south of the British Isles. 

 In addition, British winter movements (due to the pressure of climatic 

 conditions) and emigration beyond our shores are performed annually. 



Autumn Immigration. — The Fieldfare seldom quits its summer haunts 

 in North-western Europe until October. There are, however, authentic 

 records of the appearance in Great Britain of odd birds, and, more rarely, 

 small parties in September, but such occurrences must be regarded as 

 unusual. With a single exception, the September records relate to the 

 East Coast and its vicinity.' 



There are annual arrivals of comparatively small numbers in the first 

 half of October. It is not, however, until after the middle of the month 

 that the first of the great autumnal immigrations is to be expected ; for 

 the date of the northern exodus is dependent upon the nature of the 

 season, and especially of the crop of berries, in Scandinavia, and, as a rule, 

 this does not drive the birds southwards until the third or fourth week of 

 October. They continue to arrive on our coasts until mid-November, 

 the 19th being the latest date for the years covered by the inquiry. 



' The most reinaikablo of these earlj' imungrations was the occurrence of a large 

 flock near Norwich on September 9, 1880 (T. Southwell). 



