352 



Miscellaneous. 



return to the northern regions, after a winter .sojourn in the south. 

 Whatever the cause, the appearance of this species so far inland, and 

 at such a season, is I believe a very unusual circumstance. 



H. E. Strickland. 



Worcestershire, May 16, 1842. 



Since I sent a few days ago a notice of the occurrence of the Arctic 

 Tern on the river Avon in this county, I have obtained evidence 

 of the simultaneous appearance of this bird over a large extent of 

 country. No less than forty specimens procured on the 8th and 9th 

 inst. were brought to one bird -stuffer at Evesham, and the Bristol 

 papers state that on the same day (the 8th) these birds were so 

 abundant at Clevedon, Weston and Bristol, that more than 200 in- 

 dividuals were killed at the latter place. They have also been ob- 

 tained in considerable numbers higher up the Severn, as at Tewkes- 

 bury and Worcester, and it is said also at Hereford, Devizes, and 

 Trowbridge. 



My friend J. Walcot, Esq., informs me that near seven hundred 

 were seen at Cofton Hall, near Bromsgrove, and that those obtained 

 near Worcester consisted of about as many males as females. 



These facts indicate that the Arctic Tern migrates in large bodies 

 from south to north at the return of spring. We may attribute their 

 unexampled appearance so far inland to the westerly winds which 

 prevailed on the 7th and 8th, combined with the peculiar funnel- 

 shaped form of the Bristol Channel, which seems to act like the 

 " pipe " of a decoy-pond. Let us suppose a flock of Terns or other 

 sea birds to have past the Land's End with the intention of mi- 

 grating northwards through St. George's Channel, but to be driven 

 by westerly winds into the wider parts of the Bristol Channel. Their 

 locomotive instincts being as it were in a state of polarity they would 

 refrain from retracing their lost ground to the westward, but would 

 be tempted to follow the estuary of the Severn, trending as it does 

 gradually towards the north. But alas ! as the direction of the de- 

 lusive stream becomes more favourable to their object, so do its 

 shores contract, till these arctic wanderers find themselves on a nar- 

 row river winding its way through verdant fields and woods. Be- 

 wildered by the novelty of their situation and deceived in their hopes 

 of a north-west passage, the poor birds fly in despair over the sur- 

 rounding country and fall victims to the gun of the ornithologist or 

 of the idle poacher. Few, if any, succeed in crossing the midland 

 counties to the Mersey, and in revisiting the beloved shores of the 

 Orkneys. 



It is, I think, a probable supposition, that we are indebted to the 

 peculiar form and position of the Bristol Channel for the frequent 

 occurrence of various marine birds in the central parts of England. 



H. E. Strickland. 



Worcestershire, May 23, 1842. 



During the high winds that prevailed on Sunday last, our harbour 

 and floating-docks were visited by large flights of a rare and beautiful 

 species of bird, the Sterna Arctica, or Arctic Tern. The birds were 



