MIGRATION AND FLIGHT. 
109 
of visiters which so curious a circumstance attracted 
to the lodge ; whereas, the female continued very 
shy, and was on the alert, and ready to take wing 
^ when anybody approached too near. It was re- 
marked in this, as in the preceding case, that no 
young birds, from the moment of their taking wing, 
ever returned to the house, either for the purpose of 
forming nests of their own in so safe and comfortable 
an asylum, or disputing possession with the old ones 
for the tenement in which they were horn and bred. 
But, besides these regular migratory birds, others 
seem to possess a similar instinctive power; for 
instance, a Robin, which frequented a greenhouse, 
was caught, and a piece of silk being tied round its 
leg, it was put into a bag and carried to a distance 
of some miles, and then turned loose. In three 
days it was again found in the greenhouse. 
One other peculiarity in the periodical visits of 
birds to their breeding stations, is the punctuality of 
their arrival. There is seldom the difference of a 
week, and frequently not that of a day, in the time 
of the appearance of some particular species. Of 
course we cannot be accurate in most cases, from 
not being able to fix on the exact moment of a bird's 
arrival ; but in some instances, circumstances afford 
us the means of speaking more positively. Thus, on 
a well-known rocky island called the South Stack, 
near Holyhead, the lighthouse keepers assured us 
that the Gulls, which seldom visit the island for two- 
thirds of the year, arrive on the same night, namely, 
February 10th, for the purpose of breeding. They 
are regularly warned of the arrival of their summer 
guests, about midnight, by a great noise, as it were 
