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1 6 The Irish Naturalist. January, 1921. 



Migration Season of the Corncrake. 



I dare to suggest that out of all the migratory birds which come to 

 the British Isles to breed, there is one which does us the honour of coming 

 to the Emerald Isle distinctly earlier than to England — namely, the 

 Corncrake. My grounds are the following : — 



1. A record of observations during 20 years (i 877-1896) from 



"some 15 stations mainly in England" published in the 

 Natural History Journal gives the average first arrival of 

 the Corncrake as the ist of May. 



2. The average taken by me in Fermanagh for the 14 years 1907- 



1920 is the 20th April or 11 days earlier. 



3. In II of these 14 years the variation was not more than 2 days 



from the 20th, which is remarkable, and which shows the 

 seriousness of the average 11 day earliness in (2). 



4. Taking the mean of the first arrivals with me of 11 migrants 



during 6 to 13 years, exclusive of the Corncrake, I find this 

 mean to be 3 days later in Fermanagh than the A^". H. J. 

 mean for the same 1 1 birds. In other words we are at 

 least 3 days later on an average than England. This 3 

 days should then be added to the 11 in (3), making the 

 Corncrake really 14 days earlier here than if it was on a 

 par with the other birds. 



5. During the past 6 years 1914-1919 observations have been 



tabulated in the Phenological Report of the Meteorological 

 Society. The average of Corncrake arrivals therein 

 (excluding the Scotch to make my argument fairer) is the 

 4th of May. Whereas the Irish records therein taken by 

 themselves average 22nd-23rd April or ii| days earlier. 



For counter argument to my proposition, 



{a) It might be said that my own observations may have been 

 more alert and therefore earlier than the average observer. 

 But what about the other Irish observers ? It needs no 

 great alertness to hear the Corncrake. If the 11 days in 

 (3) is to be reduced for alertness the 3 days in (4) must 

 be increased accordingly. 



{b) The Irish stations in the Phenological Report are very few ; 

 but they are corroborative. 



{c) In this Report there are few observations from south-west 

 England. That area should, perhaps, be our chief 

 competitor. But I see no evidence from the tables that 

 the south of England is earlier than the Midlands. 

 Does this argue their unreliability ? 



[d] What has lighthouse research to say on the matter ? 



Eiiniskilleii 



J. P. BURKITT. 



