A MONTH ON KENTISH KNOCK LIGHTSHIP 11 



more importance ; but, alas ! only the notes of Ring- 

 Plovers and Lapwings could be identified among the 

 many voices that reached me as the migrants sped west- 

 wards under the cover of darkness. 



The first extensive movement immediately followed 

 a decided fall in temperature on the Continent. This 

 commenced at 9 a.m. on 8th October, and from that 

 hour until 2 p.m. flock after flock of Skylarks and 

 Chaffinches and small parties of Tree-Sparrows and 

 Meadow- Pipits followed each other in rapid succession. 

 Starlings, which had hitherto only been noted singly, also 

 passed in small troops. It was an important morning 

 for east-to-west migration, and not only did hundreds 

 of birds pass quite close to the ship, but far greater 

 numbers, in fact many thousands, were observed pur- 

 suing a like course at distances too great to render 

 their identification certain, especially amid the dull 

 weather and heavy rain which prevailed, and from 

 the fact that all were flying close to the surface of 

 the sea. 



On loth October there was another considerable fall 

 in temperature, and our thermometer registered 10° 

 lower than on any previous occasion since my residence 

 in the lightship. This was followed on the nth by 

 the greatest diurnal movement of birds that I have 

 ever witnessed. It set in at 8 a.m. with a marked 

 passage of Starlings, Skylarks, and Tree- Sparrows. By 

 midday it had assumed the nature of a "rush," which 

 was maintained without a break until 4 p.m. It was a 

 remarkable movement in many ways. Skylarks, Star- 

 lings, Chaffinches, and Tree-Sparrows not only passed 

 westwards in continuous flocks, but many of these 

 companies consisted of hundreds of individuals. So 



