122 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



fully registered, both in British and in foreign journals, than 

 any which preceded it. The first-comers were for the most part 

 noted in places along the coast, and a few met their fate on 

 ships. But it was amongst the great belts of Scotch fir and 

 larch-wood in the south-west of Norfolk and the part of Suffolk 

 adjoining that the later flocks were found. Here they became 

 almost plentiful — particularly in the neighbourhood of Brandon, 

 Thetford, Swaffham, and Didlington — and their ranks evidently 

 continued to receive accessions up to Christmas, if not later. 

 Indeed, the great feature of the 1909 movement has been the 

 length of time it went on, in which it differed essentially from 

 the great migrations of other species of birds ; yet I imagine 

 that these latest comers had worked their way to Norfolk by 

 stages from other parts of England. The Crossbill has been a 

 well-known Norfolk bird since the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, but in looking through the late Henry Stevenson's 

 notes I can find no record of any irruption like the present one. 

 The last occasion when there was any number of these wanderers 

 was in 1898, but the numbers then fell far below what 1909 has 

 brought us. 



The Luminous Oivl. — Beferring to the luminous Barn-Owl, 

 which gave rise to so much controversy, it may be mentioned 

 that it is still alive, or at any rate was so in February, and on the 

 same property where it was before, but is no longer so bright as 

 it was. Luminous Barn-Owls, I learn from Mr. L. Ternier, have 

 recently (December, 1909) made an appearance in Spain, where 

 two were seen. 



I believe I said before that the figures which are employed 

 in these Notes for denoting the force of the wind, are the same as 

 used at the Meteorological Office. Force 2 is a gentle wind, force 4 

 a stiff breeze, force 6 a gale ; but it has to be recollected that 

 readings on the sea-coast give a higher strength than the same 

 made inland. That anyone who wishes to study migration on 

 the East Coast must take the wind into account I feel more and 

 more convinced. It is a factor which has not been sufficiently 

 considered hitherto by those who note the direction in which 

 flights of birds are going. The rainfall for 1909 was 26 - 95 in. 



I have to acknowledge the assistance of the Bev. M. C. Bird 

 and Mr. E. C. Arnold in drawing up the following Notes. 



