364 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



of sand at low tide, or when standing at the extremity of a long 

 pier or breakwater, or on a headland jutting into the sea. 



Of course, I have often been out on a favourable night and 

 never heard the note, or perhaps paid no attention to it, for the 

 most fascinating of subjects is stale at times. Very often the 

 footfall must drown the sound, for it is of but the briefest 

 duration ; yet, nevertheless, I rarely go to the trouble of stand- 

 ing to hear the call without being rewarded, for certain nights 

 never fail to suggest the passing of the Eedwings. In this 

 connection the following quotation from Dr. Buckland (" Curi- 

 osities of Natural History," ser. ii. 285-6, cf. Henderson, 'Folk- 

 lore of the Northern Counties,' p. 99) is worth notice : — 



"A rushing rustling sound is heard in the English Channel 

 on the still dark nights of winter, and is called the Herring 

 Spear, or Herring Piece, by the fishermen of Dover. It is 

 caused by the flight of . . . Eedwings as they cross the Channel 

 to warm regions. The fishermen listen to the sound with awe, 

 yet regard it as an omen of good success with their nets." The 

 passage is not the most lucid, and a fresh investigation of the 

 superstition would be welcome ; yet it is easy to understand 

 how the presence of Herrings near the surface of the sea on a 

 fine night would be associated with the passing Eedwings in the 

 minds of the fishermen. 



Considering the maze of telegraph- and telephone-wires 

 above our towns, we might expect to have great numbers of 

 " wired " Eedwings ; yet I cannot remember seeing even one, 

 although I have handled a good many Song-Thrushes that have 

 been killed in this manner. It is curious to find Mr. Barrington 

 (in his great work on Migration in Ireland) recording a striking 

 preponderance of Song-Thrushes over Eedwings at the Irish 

 lighthouses (from 1881 to 1899 he received one hundred and 

 eighteen against sixty-one, but in some years — 1891, for example 

 — the proportions were eighteen and three) ; perhaps the Eed- 

 wing has specially keen senses that enable it to steer its course 

 with little danger in the dark of the night, or the disparity in 

 numbers may be due to the Song-Thrush being the more abun- 

 dant bird in Ireland. 



For a migrant the Eedwing is strangely averse to leaving its 

 favourite fields. Thrushes and Fieldfares soon desert a district 



i 



