THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 863.— May 15th, 1913. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL REPOET FOE NOBFOLK (1912). 



By J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S. 



The year 1912 has been noticeable for the great rush of 

 wildfowl which, the gales and Arctic weather combined, brought 

 us in January not only Ducks of all the familiar species and Brent 

 Geese, but also hundreds of Little Auks, of which ' The Zoolo- 

 gist ' has already had some account from the pen of Mr. Arthur 

 Patterson (Zool. 1912, pp. 115, 418). Sharp as was the weather 

 in Norfolk and Suffolk, we must turn elsewhere to account for 

 the presence of all these birds, namely, to the conditions which 

 prevailed much further north, and especially in the north of 

 Scotland, the Orkneys, Shetlands, and in the Faroes. In the 

 Shetland Islands the wind blew a gale on Jan. 15th, its direction 

 being from the south-east (S.E., force 7), and here, it seems, 

 we have the key to this southward rush of wildfowl into England. 

 On the 16th the wind was still higher, being S.E., force 8, at 

 the Shetlands-, and on the 17th and 18th it had reached to 

 force 9, which is almost a hurricane, after which it dropped. On 

 none of these days was there much frost in Scotland or the 

 Shetland Isles, the thermometer, according to the returns, not 

 falling lower than 38° at any station, but in Norway the readings 

 were lower. If, therefore, the wildfowl came from Scotland and 

 the isles beyond, as I suppose, it is evident 'that they were not 

 expelled by frost, but that the rush was due to wind and wild 

 weather. 

 Zool. lth ser. vol. XVII.. May, 1U13. o 



