128 REPORT ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 
The spring emigration did not escape attention, for on the 
night of the 20th of April the returning Fieldfares, Goldcrests, 
etc., were observed at 11 P.M. at the Chickens Rock. Perhaps the 
continuous movements of Thrushes and Blackbirds observed 
throughout February, and especially between the 11th and 17th, 
are referable to this class of migrants. | 
The autumn emigration, so far as our summer visitants are 
concerned, may be said to have been initiated with the appear- 
ance of the Cuckoo at Langness on the 25th of July, and was 
prolonged until the 25th of October, when the last Swallow was 
noted. 
The first immigrant winter visitant from Northern Europe 
was the Redwing, whose appearance at Carlisle was noted on 
the 20th of September. The chief general movements which 
usually characterise the southward autumnal passage were two 
in number, and affected the stations along the entire coast from 
the Isle of Man and the Eddystone. The first commenced on 
the 16th of October, and continued until the 20th. The second 
extended from the 8th to the 12th of November. 
In connection with these general movements, which are so 
often—indeed, we might say usually—participated in by a great 
variety of species of very different orders seemingly seized by a 
simultaneous migratory impulse, it would be, perhaps, well to 
consult the meteorological record for an explanation of the 
phenomenon. Mr J. A. Allen tells us that “birds discern 
approaching meteorological changes,” and that in the monthly 
weather reports of the United States Signal Service Bureau re- 
ference is often made to the movements of birds. “From these 
reports it appears that the southward migration of Geese and 
other Waterfowl usually precedes, often only by a few hours, 
the approach of heavy storms, and a sudden and very great re- 
duction of temperature, which they often wholly avoid by keep- 
ing in advance of the change.” It would seem probable, too, — 
that birds await the approach of favourable meteorological con- 
ditions, and then, having been detained by unfavourable condi- 
tions, migrate en masse. Deeming that it would be interesting in 
connection with the great movements during the autumn of 1885, 
an examination of the weather reports issued by the Meteorolo- 
gical Office has been made., The first of these, as we have seen, 
commenced on the night of the 16th of October, and continued 
