ICTERINE WAIWLEE. 43 



On the morninp; on which the Icterine War])ler was piclicfl 

 up, the weather happened to be fine, though somewhat misty. 

 Furthermore, it was calm, the wind only registering the force 

 of a gentle breeze according to Beaufort's scale. Nor did the 

 meteorological returns show that a rough phase of weather 

 had existed during the days immediately preceding. From this 

 important point in the analysis of the weather report we may 

 argue a fortiori that the bird was not driven by rough weather 

 and high winds to alight directly on Tuskar Eock, only to die 

 almost immediately after its arrival. I have seen many storm- 

 driven birds alight on this rock when I resided there for the 

 purposes of studying bird-migration. They, for the most part, 

 arrive in daylight during a gale. They generally appear to 

 be in good condition and vigorous, and move about on the rock 

 in as lively a manner as the rough weather will permit. They 

 tell us, as it were, that they have not been carried far out of 

 the course from whence they started, or, at all events, from 

 their last halting-site en route.*' And such birds generally 

 manage to get away clear when the wind abates, and even in 

 the event of being detained for a considerable period through 

 adverse weather, they may, at any rate in the warm months 

 of the year, eke out a precarious subsistence for a while on 

 flies attracted to the rock by the lightkeeper's victuals or by 

 decaying sea-weeds or other refuse. But owing to the difdculty 

 in obtaining fresh water f and the absence of shelter afforded 

 by wood or glade, these little land-birds soon begin to part 

 with their vigour on the bleak marine rocks, and, in their eager 

 endeavours to move away, find themselves becoming so deprived 

 of wing- power that they are unable to effect other than local 

 trips. Hence we find them, shortly after setting out, alighting 

 again on the nearest vantage-ground — namely, another rock — 

 and this movement is repeated until having visited two or three 

 of these inhospitable retreats the waifs eventually succumb. 

 Now I believe that the Icterine Warbler, which forms the 

 subject-matter of this paper, comes under the category of a 



■-• I have good reason for believing that many of the smaller land-bird,-^, 

 iu making long journeys, draw up to rest and refresh themselves several 

 times en mute. 



f The fresh water for human use is conserved in tanks with closed lids. 



