1910-1911.] Bird Migration in Solway, 307 



long intervals a visit in Solway from such species as the 

 Quail and the Turtledove — the " voice of the Turtle " being 

 heard in the land, however, very rarely. 



A winter of arctic severity sends us the outmost fringe of 

 such things as the Bohemian Waxwing, the Mealy Kedpoll, 

 and the Smew. 



A vole plague augments our very few resident Short-eared 

 Owls with hordes of the same species, and seasons in which 

 Beech-mast is plentiful will surely see the Bramble Finch in 

 Solway in myriads. 



One of the very largest flocks of small birds that I have 

 ever seen was in December of 1894, in the case of these 

 " Cocks 0' the North," as our country folks call them. That 

 same winter was one of unusual severity, and during January 

 birds of many species passed through Solway en route to 

 Ireland in immense hordes, seeking shelter and food in the 

 only place in Western Europe where the frost was endurable. 



Some of you may be a little surprised that I have not made 

 any allusion to a certain branch of migration research that 

 during the past twenty years has bulked very largely, almost 

 exclusively, in the public eye, and on which an immense 

 amount of work, and money too, has been expended. I refer 

 to the records of migrating birds that have been taken at the 

 lighthouses and lightships round our coasts. At one time 

 I used to think very highly of this particular branch of 

 inquiry, but maturity of years has led me to think rather 

 differently. I will give my reasons very shortly. (1) The 

 observers are for the most part unskilled men. (2) The 

 birds that strike the lights do so, in every case, as the result 

 of accident. (3) The greatest general movements of birds 

 that I have had personal experience of were not noticed 

 at all in the schedules sent from the lighthouses on the 

 coasts of Solway. (4) Generalisations derived from light- 

 house returns are therefore based on misleading data, as birds 

 are never low enough to strike except when the weather is 

 very dark, or thick, or when they are driven down by very 

 strong winds. Let me ask, how much of Herr Gatke's monu- 

 mental work would have been written had he looked to the 

 lighthouse on Heligoland for his facts ? 



Many of the most common migration phenomena are even 



