EUROPEAN VISITORS. ; 395 



tropics in their flight. Singularly enough, these are not always 

 the most active flyers. I have been able to collect corn-crakes 

 (Crex pratensis, Bechst.) even by the Albert Lake at about 2° N. 

 lat. ; but those that come as far as these regions are almost 

 without exception feeders on insects, while the feeders on corn 

 are wont to stay farther north. Wading and swimming birds 

 are also comparatively poorly represented. What laws regu- 

 late the diffusion of these winter guests, why particular varieties 

 push on so extraordinarily far towards the south, while others, 

 though physically stronger, remain far behind them, are at the 

 present time unsettled questions ; only when we are in posses- 

 sion of observations extending over many years, and of special 

 data concerning the distribution of the wanderers during winter, . 

 with constant regard to the climatic conditions of this country 

 at the time of their arrival, shall we be able to form an opinion 

 on this question. For the present it is our duty to confine 

 ourselves to the registration of facts, such as the occurrence of 

 the nightingale (Luscinia philomda, Bechst.) in Latiika and 

 Makraka, of the redstart (Ruticilla phoenicurus, L.) in Eejaf, 

 west Makraka, as far as 4 N. lat., and of the reed warblers 

 (Calamoherpe arundinacea, Gm., and C. palustris, Bechst.) as 

 far even as 2° N. lat. 



On the other hand, storks and cranes never reach us, and 

 in the course of years I have only once collected a specimen 

 of Ciconia alba below 6° 35' N. lat., which no doubt had lost 

 its way. The same winter the Egyptian vulture (Neophron 

 percnopterus, L.) and Uimantopus autumnalis, Hass., were 

 common here, though they do not appear every winter ; it 

 may, therefore, have been due to an abnormal winter in the 

 north. With regard to the arrival and departure of birds of 

 passage to and from this country, it may be remarked that 

 the end of September and October are the months in which 

 they arrive. Thus in the present year the yellow wagtail 

 (Bitdytes flava, var. ci?iereocapilla, Sav.) was first noticed on 

 October 9th. The time of departure is protracted, and falls 

 between February and April. On April 21, 1884, I caught 

 a cuckoo (Cuculus canorns, L.) in Lado. 



We have as yet scarcely any information about the move- 

 ments of other classes of animals in the tropics. That migra- 



