Reo meadow near the edge of the moor above Vads0; the! 
204 CORDEAUX : ADDRESS TO YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS. 
There are many phenomena connected with migration, conceming 
which we require much more knowledge. For instance, the hei 
at which birds travel, and under what conditions; closely ¢ ae 
with this is the question of speed ; much difference of opinion exists : 
amongst ornithologists on the subject: some hold that at a great 
altitude, three or four miles above the earth, birds are capable of 
progressing greatly beyond their ordinary and normal flight. Thea, 
we want to know, do the young invariably come in advance of the 
old in the autumn migration? Herr Giitke’s observations, ranging 
over half-a-century, are strongly indicative that this is the case in the 
majority of instances, : 
The migrations of the lemming in Norway have been often quoted 
to illustrate what has been called misdirected instinct. Peri 
in certain years, these little rodents increase to such a degree, thit 
the superfluous population of the fells migrate in immense numbers 
the lower valleys and coasts, and then, on the first calm day, #2 
Westward out to sea, presumably to the land which has gone — é 
and it is said that all these vast hosts perish with their heads * Se 
_ West. Once, a ship off the mouth of the Hardanger Fjord is repom® 
to have sailed for some hours through these migrating swarms: 7 4 
a very pretty story, and one that always interests an audience, ae 
I am afraid the facts, and deductions therefrom, are not pepe” — 
On enquiry. In the first place, it was a steamboat and not : nee 
and the time was about twenty minutes. The mouth five 0 . 
Hardanger is a long distance from the open sean twee ie 
thirty miles at least, and many, both small and large at 
intervene, Lemmings are known to swim across fjords and me 
the sea, during their migrations, with all the ease of a water Fa 
other animals do the same. On one night in August @ © foot 
reindeer, after midnight, swam across a channel, passing just Se os 
of our steamboat. I can find no evidence that the pape : 
from the outside islands into the open sea—the north Atla et y. 
course, immense numbers perish on these emigrations, devou"™ 
Owls, hawks, foxes, cetaceans of various sorts, gulls = also wil 
fowl; sharks and large fish take their share ; the reindeer , 
ieee them wholesale, and the stomach of these dee 
und filled with their remains. rticulty 
When at Vadsé the second week in August, birds PSas 
the waders, had already collected for migration. I obse 4 
of greenshank, golden plover, etc., along the coast. ee Le 
One of the most beautiful sights, as an ornithologist. ¥ small we 
“ver Seen, was a flock of 150 to 200 ruffs and reeves 12 # ramen : 
