68 



WEST COAST OF ENGLAND. 



Schedules, &c., were forwarded to forty lighthouses and 

 light-vessels on the west coast of England ; from twenty-four 

 returns have been received. The absence of returns is in some 

 cases due to accident, e. g., at Caernarvon l.v., Mr. Bowen, the 

 keeper, had been disabled with a broken rib, the result of a fall on 

 board in a gale of wind, and there had been several changes of 

 mates within a short period. In part, absence of reports is 

 accounted for by the situation of the station — e. g.y at Nash are 

 two lighthouses, and from the western one, Mr. Richards, who 

 last year supplied us with a well-filled schedule, having retired 

 from the service, his successor objected to continue the work on 

 the ground that it is so near to Nash E. On Lundy Island also 

 are two stations close to each other, and last year the two 

 reports therefrom were almost identical in every particular 

 instance. Menai is reported as being out of the track of bu'ds 

 migrating, as also St. Bees. Still we should be glad to hear 

 from these and the other stations that have not reported, and. 

 hope that next year all will send in returns, however slight, as 

 ** every little helps." Special thanks are due to those who have 

 reported ; they have given themselves considerable trouble, which 

 will, however, not be thrown away ; and the novelty and inte- 

 resting nature of the work may in some degree perhaps com- 

 pensate them for their pains. Mr. Baker writes, from Milford, 

 " It would be a great help if a book could be supplied to different 

 reporters, with a print of the different birds in it." If funds can 

 be raised, we hope in time to & able to supply this want. 



To Mr. Thompson we are indebted for a report from a hew 

 station, Allonby, on Solway Firth, which promises to be a good 

 one, and which — being the northernmost on this coast — now heads 

 our list. 



The numbers of the stations differ from those of last year's 

 report, beginning at 121 instead of 110 (the last included in 

 Eepoiii of West Coast of Scotland being 120). The following is 

 the list, those from which returns have been received being 

 marked with an asterisk (*) : — 



