294 REPORT— 1903. 



October, and usually cease with the early days of November, but in some 

 seasons there are arrivals until the middle of the month.^ 



As an illustration of the magnitude of these inpouringa, it may be 

 stated that they have been recorded for as many as twenty -one days 

 during October, and that the chief ' rushes ' often cover several successive 

 days, and affect the entire coastline from the Humber southwards. The 

 passage is chiefly performed during the daytime, and not unfrequently 

 lasts from early morning until dusk ; - but there are records which may 

 refer to a night passage along this route. 



Like other immigi'ations along this route, the direction of flight 

 varies, being from direct east to west at its centre about the mouth of the 

 Thames, to the south-west off the coast of Kent, to the north-west on the 

 Norfolk coast, and to the north -north-west at the mouth of the Humber. 

 Occasionally at the more southern stations and at the Varne Lightship, 

 in the Straits of Dover, Starlings and Rooks are recorded as proceeding 

 N.N.W., and as coming from the coast of France. 



The species which have been observed migrating from east to west 

 on the same dates as the Starling are Rooks, Larks, Tree Sparrows, 

 Chaffinches, and Lapwings. 



Many of these immigrant Starlings from Central Europe winter in 

 various parts of England ' ; many, too, pass along our southern shores : 

 some to cross the English Channel at various points on their way to i-e- 

 treats in South-Western Europe ; while others proceed to Ireland, where 

 they arrive on the coast of Wexford as a centre after passage across St. 

 George's Channel. "Vast numbers of Starlings pour into Ireland by this 

 route between the latter half of October and the middle of November, the 

 passage on some occasions lasting for several successive days.'' 



Autumn hnmiff ration from North- Western Euro-pe. — The arrival on 

 our shores in the autumn of the Starlings quitting their summer homes in 

 Scandinavia does not begin until about two weeks after the first appear- 

 ance on the coast of England of the emigrants from Central Europe. 



The earliest immigrants from the north appear on the north-east 

 coast of Great Britain during the first half of October,'' and the main 

 body arrives late in the month. There are also important inpourings 

 during the early part of November, and in some seasons laggards have 

 made their appearance as late as the 21st of the month.*" A pronounced 

 feature of these movements is that the birds arrive in a series of ' rushes,' 

 there being no immigration of a straggling nature chronicled. 



During these movements Starlings are recorded as arriving on the 

 east coast from Shetland to, and sometimes beyond, the Humber. A 

 number, too, reach the Atlantic seaboard and the Hebrides, occurring not 

 unfrequently as far west as the Flannan and Monach Isles. 



' Latest at the Gorton Lightship on November 17, 1880. 



- At the Leman and Ower Lightship on October 24, 1884, a flight, estimated at 

 5,000, passed landwards at 5 p.m., and of these fifty struck the lantern and were 

 killed. 



^ It is highly probable, indeed almost certain, that some of these Central Euro- 

 pean birds winter in latitudes north of their summer homes. 



* In 1884 it was observed for eight consecutive days (October 15-22) at light- 

 stations oS the coasts of VVaterford, Wexford, and Wicklow. 



^ The earliest dates recorded are as follows : October 1, 1886 ; 3, 1884 ; 6, 1883 ; 

 9, 1882 ; 15, 1880 ; 16, 1885 ; 18, 1887 ; 19, 1881. 



" Professor Collett informs me that most of the Starlings leave Soutliern Norway 

 in the course of October, and are common at the lighthouses during that month and 

 the early part of November. 



