ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOR NORFOLK. 163 



west. Do they then prefer to migrate with a wind which is 

 against them ? There is, however, another solution, namely, that 

 it is a N.E. wind whereby they are checked, and without which 

 many would pass on without halting on the Breydon mud-flats. 

 This latter theory seems highly probable, and it certainly appears 

 that when the wind has been S., a few only (fourteen in about 

 as many years) have stopped on Breydon Broad, the rest 

 presumably wending their way to a breeding-place in Holland. 



Mr. F. C. Jourdain is of opinion that the largest Spoonbill 

 settlement in Europe is probably that at Obedszka-Bara, in 

 the Gegenwart (see Jakob Schenk, 'Aquila,' 1908, p. 245), but it 

 is not likely that our Breydon birds nest there, or even pass it 

 on passage. 



The Breeding Season. — All Norfolk gamekeepers agree that 

 the 1913 hatch of Partridges was excellent, the weather being dry 

 and yet not too hot, but in spite of these favourable conditions 

 the young birds died in the strangest manner. Various sugges- 

 tions were made to account for this mortality, of which perhaps 

 the most plausible was that their insect food had been destroyed 

 by the floods of August, 1912 (see 'Zoologist,' 1913, p. 175). 



Mr. N. Tracy is to be congratulated on again succeeding in 

 finding a Curlew's nest near King's Lynn on May 13th, and he 

 subsequently ascertained that the eggs, of which there were 

 four, hatched. 



The Autumnal Migration. — The autumn migration to the east 

 coast of England, and particularly to Norfolk, commences in 

 August; it continues with fluctuations for three months, and 

 the sequence of species is always pretty much the same, but the 

 number of individuals composing each species varies greatly. 

 If there are strong N.E. winds, a rush of birds may be expected, 

 including rarities from Asia ; but if the weather be open, with 

 little wind, the migrants pass over the coast of Norfolk without 

 stopping. This annually invading army may be roughly divided 

 into two great brigades of birds, namely, those arriving in 

 September, when a great host of Wheatears, Eedstarts, Warblers 

 of all sorts, Flycatchers, Nightjars, Sparrow-Hawks, and Kestrels 

 deploy on our shores; and, secondly, the great rush in October 

 and November of Grey Crows, Rooks, Jackdaws, Snow Buntings, 

 Sky-Larks, Redwings, and Thrushes. The second inrush is the 



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