306 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



bird-watcher, I decided to make Ushant the scene of my 

 autumn vacation in 1898 ; and I was fortunate enough 

 to secure as a colleague my friend, Mr T. G. Laidlaw. 



We arrived at the little port of Le Conquet, 1 2 miles 

 west of Brest, the place of embarkation for Ushant, on 

 the night of the 7th September 1898. Early the 

 following morning we were on board the small steamer 

 which conveys the mails to the Islands of Mol^ne and 

 Ushant — isles which are chiefly associated in the public 

 mind with the loss of that ill-fated liner, the Drummond 

 Castle, in 1896. The morning, however, was unpro- 

 pitious, inasmuch as a dense sea-fog prevailed, and at 

 mid-day the passage was abandoned until the morrow. 



Fortunately at Le Conquet there was an estuary, 

 formed of the embouchures of several small rivers. 

 Here at low water there are extensive mud-flats, studded 

 with several small islands which are then accessible from 

 the shore. On these attractive feeding-grounds we spent 

 several hours, observing Turnstones, Dunlins, Curlew- 

 Sandpipers, Knots, Redshanks, Greenshanks, Common 

 Sandpipers, Ruffs and Reeves, Whimbrels, and Curlews. 

 In addition, a number of other species of migrants on 

 passage, such as White Wagtails, Yellow Wagtails (a 

 large flock), and Wheatears came under notice ; and a 

 Chiffchaff" was heard in autumn song in a garden close 

 to the shore. 



On the morning of the 9th, we were under way at 

 six o'clock, and were soon threading our course through 

 those rock-studded and dangerous seas which lie between 

 the mainland and our island goal. A glance at the 

 chart of these waters shows that there extends from 

 the mouth of the Gulf of Brest, in a north-westerly 

 direction, a series of islands, innumerable islets, rocks, 



