ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. IQQ 



Report of the Committee, consisting of Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown, 

 3Ir. John Cordeaux, and Professor Newton, appointed at 

 Swansea for the purpose of ohtaininfj (tvith the consent of the 

 Master and Brethren of the Trinity House, and of the Com- 

 missioners of Northern Lights) observations on the Migration 

 of Birds at Lighthouses and Lightships, and of reporting on 

 the same, at York, in 1881. 



Printed schedules for filling in observations, accompanied by letters 

 of instruction (similar to those laid on the table), were issued by 

 Mr. Cordeaux and Mr. Harvie Brown to 83 stations on the east coast of 

 Scotland and England and the Channel Islands, a large proportion of 

 these being light-vessels, situated far from land in the North Sea. 



On the west coast of Scotland and the Western Isles, includino- the 

 Isle-of-Man, Mr. Harvie Brown supplied papers to 38 stations. 



And on the West Coast of England Mr. Philip Kermode, of Ramsey, 

 Isle-of-Man (whose kind assistance the Committee desire gratefully to 

 acknowledge), issued papers to 39 lighthouses and lightvessels. 



Altogether the stations from which co-operation was asked number 

 160. 



From these, returns have been received from 103, namely : east coast 

 stations, 46 ; west coast stations, 57. From several stations letters 

 have also been received, stating that the scarcity, or total absence of 

 birds, has prevented any return being.sent in. 



Schedules, letters of instructions, were also forwarded, throuo-h 

 Mr. Alexander Buchan (Secretary, Scottish Meteorological Society, 

 Edinburgh) to three stations, two in Iceland and one in Faroe. A fourth' 

 more northern station, is secured on Fair Island for 1881, Mr. Williaui 

 Lawrence having kindly undertaken the work. The Faroe station has 

 failed this year, but the Committee hope better things from it next. 



The Committee have also made arrangements with Mr. Alexander 

 Goodman More, of Glasneviu, Dublin, and Mr. Richard M. Barrington, 

 of Fassaroe, Co. Wicklow, to undertake the working of the Irish coast in 

 1881, and beg leave to suggest that these gentlemen, as well as Mr. Philip 

 Kermode, before mentioned, and Mr. James Hardy, of Old Cambus, 

 Berwickshire (who has rendered great assistance to the Committee in 

 the Scotch stations), be added to the Committee, should it be re-appointed. 

 _ Great credit is due to the various observers for the careful and 

 painstaking manner in which the greater proportion of the returned 

 schedules have been sent in. The observations taken are a decided 

 improvement on those of the preceding year, when the men were new to 

 the work ; and they exhibit generally, in a marked degree, the intelligent 

 interest taken in the inquiry. The work, it must be remembered, is 

 entirely voluntary, and often carried on under circumstances of consider- 

 able difficulty and discomfort. 



The Committee beg to express their best thanks to the Master and 

 Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, and the Commissioners of Northern 

 Lights, for then- ready co-operation and assistance, through their officers, 

 and men, m the inquiry. Indeed, without the help thus afi'orded, the 

 observations could never have been obtained. 



The best returns, as might have been expected, have been sent in 



