THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 814.— April, 1909. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOR NORFOLK (1908). 



By J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S. 

 (Plate II.) 



Thanks to the Rev. M. C. H. Bird and other correspondents 

 there is again a liberal budget of Notes from which to compile a 

 Report for ' The Zoologist,' and, as usual, the subject of migra- 

 tion comes to the front ; this will always apply to the East 

 Coast, and to Norfolk in particular, where the advent of our 

 oversea migrants attracts so much attention. As a rule these 

 autumnal birds probably leave the Continent of Europe after 

 dusk, i. e. between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., and if they have a wind 

 behind them they fly very rapidly, we may be sure. If these 

 migrants start from Holland it may be only a transit for them of 

 four or five hours, if from Denmark nine or ten, if from the 

 south of Norway about twelve. This is crediting them with the 

 power of flying forty miles an hour, which, with a favourable 

 wind, I feel sure they would do. 



The map (p. 122) shows comparatively, how short is the dis- 

 tance from the Continent to England, and how easy it must be 

 to birds in fine weather to effect the passage. 



What delays migratory birds and makes their journey from 

 the east a long and often dangerous one are mist, rain, head- 

 winds, and unsettled weather generally. Yet these are the con- 

 ditions under which we repeatedly find them on the coast of 

 Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., April, 1909. L 



