of destruction. Should a strong cold wind from the north-west be blowing, the course of the birds is close to the ground, and thousands are captured in the nets. There is considerable competition for what are considered the best pitches, numbers of men leaving Brighton shortly after midnight, and depositing their packs on the ground they intend to occupy, to reserve the spot; they seek what shelter they can till daylight behind some bank or stack. From thirty to fifty dozen are commonly captured, and the takes not unfrequently reach as high as eighty dozen. I have myself seen over two hundred clap-nets at work on a favourable day; and, as scores of drag-nets are out as soon as dusk sets in, some idea of the number of birds caught may be formed.—E.T. Booth (Dyke Boad, Brighton).
Migration of Birds in the Winter of 1877–78.—The immigration of birds on our north-east coast has, during the present season, in some respects been most peculiar, extending, as it has done, over a most unusual period. As a general rule, we expect the most laggard of our immigrants to have arrived by the middle of November. Any coming after this date are such as are driven southward by stress of weather from the more northern districts of our island, and as a rule do not come from the north of Europe. The exceptionally mild winter in Scandinavia has induced many to tarry long past their usual period for migration,—instance the Blackbirds and Fieldfares, which have come in pretty regularly at intervals up to the present date. Woodcocks have also been most erratic in their movements. Mr. Gatke, writing from Heligoland, Jan. 27th, says, "For some weeks we have had almost every day some Woodcocks, as also Blackbirds; the latter, however, are no exception, but the former very much so at this time." A very mild season over all the north of Europe, with occasional short bursts of severe weather, lasting only a few days, has sent the birds southward in great rushes, with long intervals of comparative cessation in the stream of migrants. From the 23rd to the 27th of January we had some rather sharp weather, frost and snow from N.W. and W.N.W. The consequence has, apparently, been a considerable migration of the laggards from Scandinavia, for Mr. Gätke reports as follows:—"January. Night, from 27th to 28th, Turdus pilaris, countless flights. 29th, from 9 a.m. and earlier to 4 p.m., Colymbus septentrionalis. An uninterrupted stream of birds from N.N.E. to S.S.W. passing to the east of the island. Constantly from eight to twelve in focus of glass. February 2nd, East in the morning; N. and N. by E. in the evening, Turdus merula, from twenty to forty, as I fancy from the north." In North Lincolnshire we have had scarcely any Snipe this winter, and I have only shot a couple, and these early in the season. Of Jack Snipe I have not seen a single example—not even in the local game-shops. The total absence of the latter is curious, as there are many favourite haunts in this district, where, in other seasons,
