118 
David S. Lee and Kenneth O. Horner 
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC 
MONTHS 
Fig. 1. Monthly occurrence of passerine (dark bars) and land-based non- 
passerine (light bars) birds off the Carolina coast. 
them land on the boat. McClintock et al. (1978) found most of the 
individuals landing on ships to be emaciated immatures. On several 
occasions we watched warblers fall into the ocean or get caught in 
waves. Gulls and jaegers have been seen eating exhausted song birds, 
and the first Long-tailed jaeger ( Stercorarius longicaudus ) collected in 
North Carolina had an Acadian Flycatcher in its stomach on 31 August 
1977. Once we watched a Laughing Gull ( Larus atricilla ) capture an 
exhausted Common Yellowthroat on the wing. It is possible that 
weakened migrating song birds are an important food item for jaegers 
at sea in fall. Although the mortality rate for offshore land-based birds 
may be high, scavengers and predators certainly consume most of the 
evidence quickly. 
With the exception of the swallows and a few accidentals, we 
consider the records of passerines reported here to represent fallout 
from the offshore migrant clouds. 
Our records were obtained on fair-weather days, weather conditions 
under which radar has often revealed large numbers of birds passing 
overhead. Radar studies indicate that migrants gain altitude as they 
move out to sea, normally flying at heights that would keep them out of 
view. Most passerines reported here were seen as they approached the 
boat; their small size prohibited our seeing distant or high-flying birds. 
Therefore, it is not possible to interpret the magnitude of offshore 
migration based on chance encounters with what probably represent 
