BIRDS The month of September witnesses the exodus of most of our summer migrants. Large and small flocks and scattered companies of departing and passing sand-martins, white-throats, willow-warblers, spotted flycatchers, ring- ouzels, wheatears, chiffchaffs, swallows, house-martins, and occasional small detachments of corncrakes, tree-pipits, blackcaps, and towards the close of the month of whinchats, garden-warblers, sedge-warblers and redstarts are reported from various localities on the south coast, the most favoured in order of importance being Mount's Bay, the Lizard, Swanpool, Portscatho, and Looe. Before the end of the month the sand-martin and spotted flycatcher have completely disappeared, and in ordinary years only a few willow-wrens and ring-ouzels are left. All the other numerically important summer migrants continue with us in diminishing numbers during the month of October, and odd specimens of the others just mentioned are recorded in the first half of November. Stray specimens, or at the most, small parties of the wood-warbler, grasshopper-warbler, reed-warbler, and nightjar have been seen or obtained on migration in September and October, and in the case of the reed-warbler twice in November, apparently always in the company of other migrants. During the month of September wide-spread movements are in process among the resident species. Large flocks of pied wagtails, chaffinches, linnets, greenfinches, skylarks, meadow-pipits and goldcrests enter and leave the county ; while, as a rule, the song-thrushes, wrens, coots, mallards, teal, and particularly the starlings, receive reinforcements from the outside. The most interesting winter visitor of the month, though generally occurring singly, is the black redstart, which in some years continues to arrive irregu- larly throughout the winter. A few wigeon may put in an appearance, and the advent of one or two jack-snipe heralds the approach of the great autumnal migratory invasion from the north-east. Among the birds on passage are the curlew-sandpiper, the green sandpiper, the yellow wagtail, the black tern, and occasionally the wry-neck and dotterel, in addition, of course, to the whimbrel, knot, sanderling and turnstone. The great event in October is the inrush of winter visitors. The summer migrants have now practically left the county, with the exception of the house-martin, swallow and wheatear, large numbers of which may still linger on. By the middle of the month the last flock of martins departs ; by the twentieth the swallows, too, have vanished, except for small companies and stragglers; and before the close the last of the wheatears has disappeared. By the time the swallows and martins leave us the great migratory stream from the north-east has become fully established, and from northern and north-central Europe sweeps diagonally across England into this far corner, bringing not only our typical winter visitors like the fieldfare, redwing, golden plover, jack snipe, woodcock, siskin and brambling, but large flights of snipe, and immense flocks of lapwings, starlings, larks, and occasionally of thrushes and warblers, and naturally a number of waifs and strays that have been caught up in the migratory rush, and carried far away from their normal lines of flight. Probably most of the birds brought to the county in this great stream continue their journey with or without a pause, but large numbers of course settle down for the winter. During the month of October nearly all our other winter visitors arrive,
