Ixiv LINES OF MIGRATION. 



St. George's Channels, contributing many birds to Lundy 

 Island, the northern part of Devon, and the Scilly Islands. 

 Snow- Buntings and Crossbills, the Gyr Falcon, Snowy and 

 Hawk Owls, and some American Birds seem to come to us 

 by this route. In all probability, as suggested by Mr. Harvie- 

 Brown (Zool. 1880, p. 485), the last do not cross tlie Atlantic 

 but reach us via the northern coasts of Asia and Europe. It 

 is remarkable how^ many American sj^ecies have occurred in 

 N. Devon and the Land's End district and the Scilly Islands ; 

 some few have also occurred at Plymouth and Kingsbridge, 

 probably reaching there by the Tamar valley. This stream 

 is swelled by birds which have crossed the German Ocean, 

 and, entering the Firth of Forth, pass over Scotland to the 

 Irish Channel. 



3. Many acpiatic birds come down the Irish Channel, but some 



of those from Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands keep 

 along the west of Ireland, and a few, like the Glaucous and 

 Iceland Gulls, may round its southern shores and reach us. 

 The Grey Phalarope is supposed to follow this route south, 

 but when a southerly gale blows at migration time they are 

 forced back upon our shores along with some other birds 

 from the north and west, such as Sabine's Gull and the Fork- 

 tailed Petrel. 



4. Another stream comes down the English Channel, having been 



focusscd from northerly and easterly directions through the 

 Straits of Dover, and keeps along the French coast as far 

 as Cap dc la Hague, where a part is deflected to the N.W., 

 and brings some birds to our south coast. Woodcocks 

 probably come to the Landslip at Dowlands by this route 

 (but they rarely strike the Start and Eddy stone Lights), and 

 Ducks, Geese, and flights of Skuas and Terns in autumn. 

 The Terns and Skuas keep well out to sea on their migration 

 to the south, and ordinarily few are seen on our coast j but if 

 they should meet violent south-westerly gales they are driven 

 back upon our south coast, and some are even forced up the 

 Bristol and St. George's Channels, The Ducks, Geese, and 

 Skuas come from the rorth-east doAvn the eastern coast of 

 Ejigland, and continue their course westward down the 

 English Channel. Thus we get the Xorth-eastern form 



