ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOR NORFOLK. 179 



vision. Some of the small birds, which flew like Finches, were 

 also at a great height. At nine o'clock we started walking up 

 the coast north, with the birds coming towards us in un- 

 diminished numbers, and we reached the north coast, past 

 Holme, and walked east nearly to Brancaster ; the birds were 

 then coming out of the east — that is to say, they were following 

 the coast of Norfolk [see map] . The number of Starlings which 

 must have gone by between 7 a.m. and midday is almost incon- 

 ceivable, and I imagine they were passing all night as well." 

 Mr. Eiviere also saw two flocks of Wild Geese and eight Swans, 

 probably Whoopers, as well as a flock of three hundred Twites 

 resting on the ground. One curious feature in Mr. Eiviere's 

 narrative is that near Brancaster the birds were flying west, but 

 when they reached Gore Point in Holme, where the coast bends, 

 they preferred turning to the south to crossing the Wash, which 

 is here only thirteen miles broad. As the morning wore on the 

 passage of birds gradually slackened, and during the afternoon 

 it was practically over. Meanwhile, a similar migration on a 

 rather smaller scale, commencing on the 5th, was going on, on 

 that day and the 6th, at Blakeney (R. Pinchin), Overstrand (W. 

 Burdett), and Mundesley (Mack). Nor was this imposing array 

 of birds confined to Norfolk, for in North Lincolnshire, Mr. Caton 

 Haigh informs me, the movement was marked, as it was likewise 

 in Heligoland (A. K. Schneider). But what is still more inte- 

 resting is that it was registered by that acute observer, Professor 

 J. Thienemann, at Bossitten, in the south of the Baltic,, which 

 is on about the same latitude as Edinburgh. Here the species 

 passing, as I learn from Professor Thienemann, consisted of 

 Hooded Crows, Jackdaws, Sparrow-Hawks, Buzzards, Fieldfares, 

 Redwings, and Waxwings. It is exceedingly likely that among 

 this host were some which reached Norfolk and Lincolnshire on 

 Nov. 7th. 



14th. — The Little Auk is a species which is much more 

 powerless to resist the wind and waves than the Razorbill, 

 although its wings are not much smaller in proportion to the 

 body. We thought we had done with them for this year, but on 

 the 14th three were detected by Mr. Ernest Gunn from Yarmouth 

 Pier, where some had been seen a few days before by Mr. Patter- 

 son. About this time one was picked up on Sheringham golf- 



p2 



