BIRDS AND LIGHTHOUSES 263 



direction, but stop short (many of them) at the 

 English Channel, and make this country their winter 

 quarters. FamiUar examples of these are the Merlin, 

 Short-eared Owl, Grey Shrike, Fieldfare, Redwing, 

 Shore-lark, Snow Bunting, Waxwing, Crossbill, 

 Grey Crow, Golden Plover, Woodcock, Snipe, Jack 

 Snipe, Bittern, and many Ducks, Geese, and Swans. 

 The "birds of double passage " are those which 

 come up from the south in the spring with our 

 "summer migrants," but, instead, of remaining 

 here with them to rear their young, pass on 

 to breeding quarters further north or north-east, 

 whence they return in autumn with our "winter 

 migrants " — not to stay here, as a rule, but to pass 

 still further south for the winter. 



Formerly it was a matter of mere conjecture 

 where Swallows passed the winter, some people 

 asserting that they did not leave this country at 

 all, but hibernated in hollow trees and cliffs ; while 

 others even went so far as to state that they did 

 so under water, a notion evidently founded on 

 incomplete observation of the bird's habits. Their 

 attachment to the neighbourhood of water at all 

 times is noticeable. They find plenty of insect food 

 there. Their being there at roosting-time may be 

 accounted for by the circumstance that reeds and 

 willow branches not only afford them most con- 

 venient perches, but enable them to crowd close 

 together, and so secure greater warmth to individuals 

 than they could possibly enjoy if each roosted upon 

 a separate twig in trees or shrubs of different growth. 

 Superficial observers, seeing a number of Swallows 



