1114 Birds. 



and although the emigrants make their appearance amongst us, it is 

 only in small flocks, and there is little indication of a general impulse ; 

 the flocks are not only smaller, but succeed each other much less fre- 

 quently, and sometimes they even alter their course, and take another 

 route. Pigeons, starlings, and many other birds which habitually fly 

 directly against the wind, or nearly so, instead of going towards the 

 west, shape their course in an opposite direction ; and often when the 

 weather is perfectly serene, they mount to a great height in the at- 

 mosphere, escaping at the same time the observant eye of the natu- 

 ralist and the destructive gun of the fowler. The vernal migration is 

 subject to similar variations : at this season the rains tend greatly to 

 diminish the cold, and consequently exercise considerable influence 

 in hastening or retarding the movement, according as they happen to 

 be early or late. In the month of March, the birds crowd the shores 

 of Africa when the wind happens to be cold and westerly, waiting for 

 the east wind, with its accompanying rain and warm weather. 



There are many birds inhabiting the northern and midland coun- 

 tries of Europe, which appear in Provence occasionally but not annu- 

 ally; their visits seem to be occasioned by extreme cold or the scarcity 

 of suitable food in their usual haunts: these 1 have separated from 

 the rest under the name of irregular birds of passage. The remain- 

 der are seen every year, and may therefore be termed regular birds 

 of passage. The periods of migration will be found sufficiently exact, 

 except as relates to that period of the year immediately succeeding 

 the middle of March, when shooting being strictly prohibited through- 

 out France, our sportsmen feel little interest in observing the move- 

 ments of the feathered tribes. 



I. Irregular Birds of Passage. 



Osprey, Pandion haliceetos. Aigle Bal-buzard, (Temm.) Appears 

 irregularly, towards the end of autumn or in winter. 



Hen-harrier, Circus cyaneus. Appears at the same seasons as the 

 preceding, but less frequently. 



Marsh Harrier, Circus <Bruginosus. Busard de Marais, [Temm.) 

 This species is seen more frequently and more regularly than the two 

 preceding, during the whole of the winter, and remains near the 

 marshes and stagnant waters. When it happens that a water-bird is 

 wounded by a sportsman, and still retains sufficient power to swim or 

 to rise from the ground, this harrier, which is always hovering near, 

 waits a few moments, then flies towards the wounded bird and carries 

 it off. If this occur near a sportsman, he fires at the harrier, and the 

 report of the gun is sufficient to frighten it away. 



