41 



THE WHEATEAR. 



Saxicola oenanthe (L.). 



A FEW stragglers were reported i'rom Kent and Essex on 

 March the 14th and 16th, and from Somerset on the 17th, 

 but the majority must have passed rapidly northwards, as 

 many were recorded in Dumfries on the lUth. 



The species was noted at the Portland Bill light, Dorset, 

 on the 18th, but the immigration was apparently only a very 

 small one. A slightly larger wave occurred on the 20th, birds 

 being noted both at the Hauois light, Channel Islands, and 

 at the Dorset lights. There is some evidence to show that 

 this immigration passed on, as an increase in numbers was 

 noted in tStaft'ordshire and Pembrokeshire on the followino- 

 day, but had disappeared again by the 22nd. Another immi- 

 gration took place in Devon on the 23rd, when a migratory 

 flock was noted in Glamorgan passing northwards. Some of 

 these birds appear to have spread over the southern counties, 

 while others were noted in Norfolk, Yorkshire and Cheshire. 

 Some reached Merioneth on the 25th, the Jsle of Man on 

 the 2lith, and Lancashire on the 27th, while an increase in 

 numbers in Yorkshire was reported on the 28th, but the birds 

 do not seem to have remained thei'e. 



On the 2*Jth a slight increase in numbers was noted in 

 Devon and Sussex. The western portion of these apparently 

 Ibllowed in the track of their predecessors, being noted in 

 Wales on the 30th and in the Isle of Man, Cheshire and 

 Yorkshire on the 31st, while some reached Northumberland 

 on the same day. 



Between the 3rd and 14th of April small parties kejjt on 

 arriving every night on the south coast of England. These 

 were the forerunners of a great immigration which occurrctl 



D 



