INTRODUCTION. 
xli 
^ ^ eS Euiope, and returns in winter to North-west and East Africa, our bird spends a portion 
p i ^. 6ai ®*beiia, and visits, in the course of its migration, the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 
^ j ’ J ^ us l ra lia> and New Zealand ! Towards the end of March, or beginning of April, large 
in i 1 ma ^ )e S6en at ^ 1G ^ ar ta ^ing their departure from our country. Rising from the beach 
^ ^ ne anc ^ w ^h m uch clamour, they form into a broad semicircle, and mounting high in the 
5 e a couise due north: sometimes they rise in a confused manner, and, after circling about at 
a ^ nsi ^ eia l ) le height in the air, return to the beach to reform, as it were, their ranks, and then make 
. 61 Stait on distant pilgrimage. After foreign travels and adventures which the pen of 
on alone could do justice to, the flocks begin to reappear at the north during the first week of 
1 ovember, and then rapidly disperse along the coast. 
pj , 1S SU ^ ect seasonal migration of certain birds is a very wide one and full of interest, 
tradi ' ^ n °thing in the whole field of ornithological research more remarkable than this 
iona habit, acquired no doubt by experience accumulated through countless generations. The 
the T lmg ^ nSt ’ 11Ct w hioh guides the Ground-Lark to her nest under some particular tussock in 
si IT St a W ^ deiness ’ m ^ es in extent, of exactly similar tussock, or which enables the sea-bird to 
beach ^ ^ ° Wn G ^ S ^ rom amon g fh e thousands clustered together on the bare rock or sandy 
., . ’ ^ ewise guides the movements of the migrant when the time comes round for its annual 
pilgrimage. 
a nd b tb aXG * n .^ eW ^ ca ^ atlt i two species of Cuckoo belonging to different genera — both migratory 
visits tl ^ araS '^ C " ^ ne ^ ese (lh e Long-tailed Cuckoo), which is a native of the Society Islands, 
little W iq° Untl ^ ^ summer ai]( I breeds with us, entrusting the task of rearing its young to a 
of Octob 61 n0t ^ a '^ ei ^ ian an English Wren. It arrives, year after year, during the second week 
throuoj 1 5 an< ^ ^° a ^ CS US a § a * n before the end of February — this migratory habit, persevered in 
rano-e^of ^ ^ enera ^ ons ’ having become a necessary part of its natural existence. In the whole 
migration lt ^°^°^ ca ^ biography, there is perhaps nothing more marvellous than this punctual annual 
Cuckoo vis't ° SS S ° me ^' teen hundred miles of ocean. The other species, known as the Shining 
• U h°m Australia, performing its journey of a thousand miles with the same wonderful 
piecision as to dates of am l a a . 
days durino- a • lva anf i departure, my register showing only a maximum variation of five 
entrusts the ' ^ U0US P cl i°d of ten years. Curiously enough, this mild little caterpillar-hunter 
onT ,„ a -C “ • & young to the same bird that performs that friendly office for its predatory 
congener four times its sGp -r * . . . / J 
• . „ . u apart trom these regular summer visitants, with which most 
colonists are familiar we hnv 
ver • curioi ’ dV ° numerous instances of eccentric and casual migration which are indeed 
crossed Co k’ ^ S ^ 01 7 °f the little Zosteroj)s, or Blight-bird, is a case in point. This migrant 
over . Strait, foi the first time within the memory of man, in the winter of 1856, coming 
greater numb ^ ^° C ^ S ’ &S ^ to ex P^ ore the country ; then retired for two years, and reappeared in 
the North 1.1] ** ^ e ^° le * n ^ lc w ^ n ter of 1 858, since which time it has been a permanent resident in 
was no doubt it t ^ ree ^ n ^ * n ever y district, and becoming more plentiful every year. This migration 
Island which ^ ^ ^ ns ^ ance ’ a scarc ity of some particular food-supply in the South 
case is tl t ft have occuned again two years later. The exceptional feature, however, in this 
j n \ 1 1 16 seconc ^ Migration the natural impulse to return home had lost its influence. 
their own , ar t f ^ aV6 Severa ^ recor( l« of non-migratory birds performing a kind of exodus from 
or pvpn ^ ^ 16 C0Un ^ swarm ^ n g h^ 0 some distant region, where they have remained for five 
even ten years arul j 
n isappearing as suddenly as they had come. Take, for example, the 
