A MONTH ON KENTISH KNOCK LIGHTSHIP 25 



way, and hence make for the light in default of any- 

 other directive impulse. After my experiences at the 

 Eddystone and the Kentish Knock, I am convinced 

 that this is not the true explanation. I believe that the 

 migrants are actually decoyed from or arrested on their 

 course by the influence of the light itself. At the 

 Eddystone, the emigrants which I saw in such numbers 

 had practically only just left the land behind them, and 

 had not had time to get lost when they appeared at the 

 lantern. Another important fact in support of my 

 contention is that the birds never appear at the light- 

 stations at night except when the rays are remarkable 

 for their luminosity ; and in this connection it is 

 important to bear in mind that this brilliancy does not 

 depend upon such a thickening of the atmosphere as 

 would cause inconvenience to the birds during their 

 passage, for I have seen them in great abundance at the 

 lanterns when I could make out neighbouring lights 

 that were ten miles or more distant. Another signifi- 

 cant fact is that they do not seek stations having red or 

 green lights. Such lanterns, I am informed by the 

 keepers, are seldom if ever visited under any conditions, 

 for, owing to the subdued nature of their lights, the rays 

 never become sufficiently conspicuous to prove attractive. 

 When the Galloper lightship had white lights, great 

 numbers of birds were allured to its lanterns, but now 

 that the light is red, bird-visitors are almost unknown. 

 If the birds were lost, why should they seek a white 

 light and avoid one that is red or green? That the 

 migrants may and do become confused, and for a time, 

 perhaps, lost after the excitement and fatigue occa- 

 sioned by their attendance upon the lantern, I can well 

 imagine. 



