The Migration of BirdsCoward, T. A. (Thomas Alfred)
Science
The Migration of Birds
Coward, T. A. (Thomas Alfred)
Birds -- Migration
Mr Tomison records some of his experiences of migration at Skerryvore
(52). He never saw a bird at the windows when the moon was shining,
and on clear nights the passing crowds go on without a pause. But on
hazy nights, with an easterly wind and drizzle, or during fogs, if
large numbers of migrants are passing, hundreds may be seen flying in
all directions, "all seemingly of the opinion that the only way of
escape out of the confusion--is through the windows of the lantern."
On one September night, when he was standing on the balcony, he likens
the appearance of the birds to a heavy fall of snow. "Thousands were
flitting about; hundreds were striking against the dome and windows;
hundreds were sitting dazed and stupid on the trimming paths; and
scores falling to the rocks below, some instantaneously killed, others
seriously injured, falling helplessly into the sea." On the following
night when many fieldfares, redwings, thrushes and other birds were
passing, he says--"Sometimes we use the terms hundreds and thousands
without thinking what these figures mean but on this occasion when I say
thousands were killed I do not exaggerate in the slightest."
Mr W. Brewster's account of his experiences at the Point Lepreaux
lighthouse (8), shows that similar disasters occur in Canada and the
States, as indeed they do wherever there are passages of birds. On a
foggy evening in September 1885 "as soon as the sky became overcast
small birds began to come about the light--with the advent of the fog
they multiplied tenfold in the course of a few minutes" and many struck.
"About the top of the tower, a belt of light projected some thirty yards
into the mist by the powerful reflectors; and in this belt swarms of
birds, circling, floating, soaring, now advancing, next retreating,
but never quite able, as it seemed, to throw off the spell of the
fatal lantern.... Dozens were continually leaving the throng" of birds
which had flown to leeward, "and skimming towards the lantern. As they
approached they usually soared upward, and those which started on a
level with the platform usually passed above the roof.... Often for a
minute or more not a bird would strike. Then, as if seized by a panic,
they would come against the glass so rapidly ... that the sound of the
blows resembled the pattering of hail." During his stay no birds came to
the light except during dense cloud or fog, and they came in greatest
numbers when an hour or two before the fog the sky was clear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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