ON BIRD MIGRATION. 291 



Statement furnished by Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke. 



Herewith I submit histories of the various migrations performed by 

 the Starling and the Rook ; species whose movements present special 

 points of interest, while those of the former are of a more complex 

 nature than is to be found in any other British bird. 



My thanks are accorded to Professor CoUett, of Christiania, and to 

 Herr Knud Andersen, late of Copenhagen ; and also to several British 

 ornithologists (whose names are duly mentioned in the histories) for 

 information afforded. 



As this is the final instalment of my work for the Association, I 

 desire to make the following remarks : 



The ' Digest of Observations ' submitted in 1896 has been abundantly 

 and thoroughly tested during the progress of the subsequent work, and 

 its accuracy has practically remained unshaken. A few modifications may 

 be necessary, but they are of such an unimportant chai-acter as to need no 

 mention here. 



As regards the treatment of the movements of species, the plan 

 devised aims at furnishing complete histories of each and every movement 

 (and the various conditions itc. under which they are performed'^ of a 

 few birds, carefully selected so as to include every type of British 

 migrant ; a comprehensive method of treatment never before attempted, I 

 believe, for any species of migratory bird, British or foreign. 



The consummation of this ideal has, however, presented exceptional 

 difficulties ; due chiefly to the fact that some of the movements are 

 habitually performed under conditions which enshroud them in all but 

 complete obscurity, indeed often in complete obscurity. Their elucidation 

 has demanded an infinite amount of research ere results which were 

 entirely satisfactory could he arrived at, for not a single statement made 

 in the histories is of a hypothetical nature, unless it is clearly implied to 

 be such. 



Before concluding, I wish to express my acknowledgments to the 

 members of the Committee for the honour they did me in 1887 in entrust- 

 ing to my charge the preparation of the results obtained through this great 

 inquiry ; and also for the confidence they have since unfailingly reposed 

 in me. To the late Mr. Cordeaux and others my special thanks are due 

 for much valuable advice and encouragement ; without the latter incen- 

 tive I doubt much if I should ever have ventured to undertake so great 

 and important a piece of research, or should have accomplished it. 



Finally, I would state that although the work is fittingly concluded, 

 so far as the British Association is concerned, the subject is by no means 

 exhausted ; and that I intend to continue the investigations in the hope 

 of being able to add something to what has already been accomplished. 



The Migrations of the Starling (Sturnus mdgaris). 



The Starling is a summer visitor to Northern and much of Central 

 Europe, and a winter visitor to Southern Europe and Northern Africa. 

 In the British Isles it is a resident, a partial migrant, a winter visitor, 

 and a bird of passage. 



The migrations of the Starling observed in Great Britain and Ireland 

 are of a singularly varied nature, being performed with great frequency 

 and at all seasons. These remarkable characteristics in the movements of 



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