21 



THE WHEATEAE. 



Saxicola oenanthe (L.) 



The immig-rations of the Wheatear undoubtedly consisted 

 of large numbers of birds arriidng along the whole extent 

 of our southern coasts in successive waves. The records 

 during the spring of 1905 enable us to trace six of these 

 movements. 



The first immigration, heralded by numerous stragglers 

 which came mainly from the south-west between the 14th 

 and 18th of March, struck the coast of Devon on the 19th, 

 and spreading rapidly up the west, reached Anglesea on 

 the 21st March, while stragglers at the same time spread 

 all along the south coast. These immigrants distributed 

 themselves over the west and north, reaching Yorkshire 

 by the 25th and Durham on the 26th, and during the 

 latter part of this time there were very few birds in 

 Devonshire, where they first landed. This immigration 

 was entirely unrecorded from the light-stations. 



The second immigration was recorded over a broader 

 front, the birds striking the coast first and in greatest 

 numbers at Kingsbridge, in Devon, on March 28th, and 

 being recorded as arriving on the following two or three 

 days along the whole of the south coast. The evidence 

 at hand seems to show that these afterwards spread them- 

 selves in a northerly direction across the whole country, 

 and until the next immigration very few remained in the 

 southern counties. This movement also can barely be 

 made out from the lighthouse records, only six occurrences 

 of stragglers being noticed. 



The third immigration was first noticed in Somerset on 

 the 8th April, and was followed by large numbers arriving 

 in Dorset and Hampshire on the 9th and 10th, the birds 



