1192 Birds. 



window, I saw a large flight of swallows high up in the air, moving from the north 

 towards the south, over the town of Manchester, in which direction they all disappear- 

 ed. Some days previous to this transit, the weather had been wet and tempestuous ; 

 would that be cause enough to make them leave the scene of their nidification so early 

 as this date, and so repair towards the coast ? Perhaps the rough weather had caused 

 a scarcity of insect food, and so caused them to seek a fresh feeding-ground elsewhere. 

 This is only coujecture. I thought the occurrence so singular, that I have ventured 

 to send you this note on the subject. I may add, that I think the swallows and mar- 

 tins more numerous this year than the last. — T. Webster ; 96, Ormond St. Manchester. 



[The gatherings of swallows in the autumn, although interesting in itself, does not 

 exactly come under the head of partial migration, as intended at p. 983. My observa- 

 tions at that place rather referred to birds not acknowledged as migrants. I regret I 

 was not more explicit. — E. N.~\ 



On the Migrations of Birds. I may perhaps be excused if I offer a few observa- 

 tions on some of the migratory species of birds, having been led to do so by the remarks 

 of the Rev. J. D. Banister, of Pilling, (Zool. 1063). That gentleman marvels at the 

 delay of the woodcock and fieldfare with us so long after the arrival of the swallow ; 

 if Mr. Banister takes a walk by the sea-side in the last week in May, or even the first 

 in June, he may frequently hear the yelp, yelping note of the sanderling, or possibly he 

 may see a small dense flock of them skimming swiftly along the surface of the water ; 

 when suddenly wheeling up into the air, they display the snowy under surface of their 

 bodies, flashing like a white sheet, and again disappearing, for their flight is rapid, 

 vigorous and unsteady, now sweeping upwards, and again descending like a rushing 

 torrent. I have shot the sanderling as late as the 6th of June, and have seen them 

 later, both on the banks of the Solway and the Ribble ; and yet these birds are said 

 to breed still further north than either woodcock or fieldfare. I have also observed in 

 company with the sanderling, as late as the middle of May, large flocks of ringed plo- 

 vers (Charadrius Hiaticula, Linn.) that have not yet paired; while, scattered along 

 the shore, in favourable situations, might be seen pairs of the same species, whose nests 

 contained their full complement of eggs, some of them nearly hatched. It seems, 

 therefore, that even the same species vary much in the time appointed for breeding. 

 It is, I believe, a generally received opinion, that migratory birds return to the places 

 where they were bred ; possibly those ringed plovers still in flock had been bred far 

 north, and instinct had taught them to restrain the desire of propagation, until the 

 weather was favourable for their reception in their native breeding-ground. — James 

 Cooper; 132, Victoria St., Preston, September 22, 1845. 



On the Noise made by the Snipe, When looking over the number of * The Zoolo- 

 gist' for the present month (Zool. 1066), I noticed some observations by Mr. W. Bree, 

 jun., who, when speaking of the whorring noise produced by the snipe, says that the 

 birds were certainly upon the ground, which argued against the opinion of the game- 

 keeper, who said that the noise was produced by the wings. Having spent much time 

 in the pursuit of birds and their nests, I have had many opportunities of observing the 

 snipe in the breeding-season; and I beg to assure Mr. Bree, that the noise is not only 

 produced by the wings of the bird, and only when it is upon the wing, but by a parti- 

 cular mode of flight. The bird, while wheeling about over head, suddenly throws 

 itself partly on one side, and descending towards the ground at a very acute angle, 

 moving its wings with great vigour, it passes through the air with nearly double the 

 ordinary speed for the space of twenty or thirty yards ; when again changing its posi- 



