418 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



put in an appearance, and a few Bluethroats, speedily followed by 

 a great flight of Eobins." This is important, as it shows the 

 great extent of the immigration, and affords a comparison 

 between the two coasts of -Norfolk and Lincolnshire. . 



The second " great rush" of birds was on the 14th, 15th, and 

 16th of October, and was the most remarkable I have ever 

 witnessed, both as regards the number of species and individuals. 

 On the 13th, wind N. and N.E. in afternoon, slight but increasing, 

 clear and bright, heavy sea on coast out of all proportion to wind. 

 Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke and I walked to the lighthouse at the 

 Spurn ; but, excepting the ordinary shore frequenters, very few 

 birds were seen by us — one Woodcock heard of, one Goldcrest 

 seen, a few Redwings among the sand-hills and thickets of 

 sallow-thorn, Hippopha rhamnoides. We had never before seen 

 this local and spiny shrub so densely laden with berries, clustered 

 in orange-coloured masses round stems and branches, and giving 

 quite a rich glow to the sand-dunes which the plant covers. 

 On our return later in the day over the same ground a few more 

 Redwings were seen. 



Shortly after midnight in the early morning of the 14th the 

 wind got full east, with quite half-a-gale and heavy beating rain 

 continuous to the morning of the 16th; the nights very dark, 

 and so thick at sea during the day that a large steamboat moored 

 a mile from the shore could only be made out at rare intervals. 

 During this time the immigration was immense ; greatest in 

 number were Golden-crested Wrens. First I heard their notes 

 on opening my bed-room window on the morning of the 14th, 

 and soon saw some in the garden below ; they swarmed in every 

 hedgerow, but on Saturday, the 15th, the number had enormously 

 increased ; Goldcrests everywhere — in hedges and gardens, dead 

 thorns and hedge-trimmings, rubbish-heaps, beds of nettles and 

 dead Umbelliferse, the reeds in ditches, sides of haystacks, and 

 the thorn-fences of sheds and yards; the sallow-thorns were 

 densely crowded, many found shelter in the long sea-grass, and 

 others again crouched on the bare rain-swept sands between the sea 

 and the dunes. Many might have been taken with a botterfly-net. 



On this day I saw a very handsome Firecrest. I was 

 standing in shelter of a big fence, watching the Goldcrests 

 working inland up the hedge and flitting close to my face, when 

 one tried first to alight on the stick of an umbrella which I held 



