178 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



I left Hunstanton about mid-day on the 18th, the migration 

 of Finches, Starlings, Hooded Crows, and Sky Larks being still 

 in progress. e 



In these notes I have confined my remarks to those species 

 which were undoubtedly travelling, but the appearance of two 

 Merlins on the 15th may be worth mentioning; and, whilst 

 watching a flock of Snow Buntings at Holm on the 16th, I 

 observed a large flock of Grey Plover come streaming over the 

 sand-hills. 



Few birds appear to cross the Wash to the Lincolnshire 

 coast. I only observed three Sky Larks attempting to do so, 

 though I spent several hours in a boat anchored about two miles 

 from the shore.' 



I think the above notes will confirm the opinion expressed 

 by Mr. Cordeaux, in spite of the poverty of the returns examined 

 by him, " that a focussing stream pours along the coast from 

 east to west to pass inland by the estuary of the Wash and 

 the river systems of the Nene and Welland." I imagine the 

 majority of those birds whose arrival I witnessed to have been 

 immigrants from Central Europe, probably crossing the North 

 Sea during the night. Tired with their sea journey, they would 

 be glad of a few hours' rest before resuming their travels. This, 

 to some extent, might account for few birds striking the light- 

 house lantern, and my not being able to detect any movement at 

 night. The fact of migration almost ceasing in the afternoon 

 also, I think, tends to confirm this view. 



The eastern shores of the Wash do not seem to be extensively 

 patronised by the waders ; but this is probably to be accounted 

 for by the somewhat peculiar geographical position of the Wash. 

 Birds migrating from the north either strike our north-east or 

 extreme east coasts, the Wash, as it were, lying between the two 

 in a corner. A friend, however, who visited Hunstanton in the 

 following November, informed me that great numbers of Lap- 

 wings were passing all day during the 6th. It may be interesting 

 to note that a Snow Bunting, which my friend brought home 

 with him, had a small land-shell with a living occupant, firmly 

 imbedded in the feathers of the breast. 



Though large numbers of birds reach the interior of England 

 via the Wash, as noted by Lord Lilford and Mr. Cordeaux, the 

 claims of the Trent Valley as another great highway, must not 





