166 BIRDS OF BERMUDA. 
returning to Bermuda from leave in England, one of whom (Captain 
Rooke) was a great sportsman, and had shot and collected some birds 
during his previous residence in the ‘“‘ beautiful isle of the sea.” His 
account was decidedly reassuring. He spoke of twenty or more species, 
and delighted my ears with the magic words—“ Teal” and “Snipe.” I 
was thankful then that my trusty 16-bore was lying snug and safe in 
my cabin, ready to add to the Bermuda lists when called upon. 
We left Gibraltar on the 12th, but did not land in Bermuda till March 
30, owing to a pleasant head-wind and somewhat limited powers of 
locomotion. My note-book was started next day—our first on shore— 
and was religiously kept up from that time till June 3, 1875, when I left 
again for English soil. 
Situated in latitude 32° 15’ north, and longitude 64° 51’ west, 600 
miles or more from the great North American continent, and exposed 
to the full force of ever-varying gales, the long, narrow group of islands 
known as the “Bermudas” offer a harbor of refuge to many a weary, 
storm-beaten migrant on its passage north or south, and in consequence 
we find a great many genera of the North American avi-fauna repre- 
sented in the visiting list. On this subject my friend, Mr. J. Matthew 
Jones, of the Middle Temple, editor of “The Naturalist in Bermuda” 
(1859), remarks: ‘That the Bermudas afford an excellent position from 
whence to observe the annual migration of many species of the feathered 
tribes of America cannot be doubted. Equidistant, or nearly so, from 
the shores of Nova Scotia, the United States, and the West Indian 
archipelago, they present, as it were, a casual resting-place to many 
birds while traversing the broad expanse of ocean which forms the 
eastern limit of their great line of flight.” 
Some species, as the American Golden Plover, American Snipe, Sora 
Rail, Night Hawk, Yellowshanks, &c., seldom fail to appear every au- 
tumn, and may be set down as regular visitors, probably from the fact 
that their line of migration is direct from the northeastern coasts of the 
continent to the West Indies and tropical South America; but, as will 
presently be seen, the great bulk of the recorded species are irregular 
or accidental visitors, whose migratory journeys are less ambitious, and 
who are blown off the mainland by unfavorable winds. That fresh 
species will from time to time be added to the present list is more than 
probable; in fact, it is possible that the whole migratory avi-fauna of 
North America may eventually be recorded as Bermudian. When such 
diminutive flyers as the Ruby-throated Humming-bird, Trochilus colu- 
