484 Dr. A. L. Thomson ; Results of a Study of [Ibis, 
II.—THE LAPWING (Vanellus vanellus Linn.) : 
ANALYSIS OF RECORDS. 
Although found all the year round in the British Isles, 
except in some inland districts, this species is well-known 
as a migrant. The migrations which may be observed are 
indeed extremely complex, and they have already been very 
fully worked out from the point of view of mass movements 
(cf Eagle Clarke, Report Brit. Assoc, for 1902, p. 277). In 
addition to autumn movements within the country, there are 
at that season both immigrations from the north and east 
and emigration to the south. If very severe weather occurs 
during the winter there may be a resumption of these 
movements, even if so late that the normal date for the 
spring migrations in the opposite direction is close at 
hand. 
The case is typical of a great part of the general 
phenomena of migration in the British area, and the obstacle 
which stands in the way of a full understanding of what 
takes place is the difficulty of ascertaining the respective 
parts played by the native birds and by the winter visitors 
and birds of passage from the Continent: to what extent, 
one asks, do the former remain sedentary while the latter 
journey on to form the southward stream ? And it has 
already been argued that it is questions of this kind which 
probe the very nature of the migratory habit. 
Fortunately the species has proved a very suitable one 
for study by the marking method, and the results already 
obtained show how the data from other sources may he 
supplemented in important respects. The writer would 
indeed urge the value of a concentrated investigation of this 
species, on a larger scale than has yet been tried, as being 
likely to yield results of very great theoretical interest. 
Table II. gives the numbers of Lapwings marked during 
the course of the inquiry, and the numbers recovered 
in the respective categories. For the purpose of grouping, 
the following arbitrary geographical regions have been 
defined :— 
