THE RUSH OF ARCTIC BIRDS ON THE EAST COAST OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE WINTER OF 1894-95.

BY JOHN CORDEAUX, M.B.O.U.

IN looking through a catalogue of birds belonging to any inland county, or special faunal area, we invariably find that it includes several which can only be considered very occasional and erratic visitors. These are usually wanderers from the nearest coast, or such as, purely pelagic in their haunts and habits, have had the misfortune to be driven inland by fierce gales till, sinking exhausted, they add by the mere accident of their death in that locality, another species to the avi-faunal list.

The winter of 1894-5 has, perhaps beyond all precedence in the last halfcentury, been characterized by gales of unusual force, coupled with a temperature for many weeks in succession [December 27th, '94 to February 18th, '95] ranging from a few degrees of frost to 11°, and in one locality* 18° below zero-an extreme of cold rarely recorded before in the British islands, the effects of which have been disastrous to our winter birds, from the ubiquitous rook and starling to the great white swans from the northland which have visited the coast. Without doubt, the principal feature of the season from a Naturalist's point of view has been the remarkable immigration of Arctic birds on to the north-east coast of England-the most notable of these being the little auk (Alca alle), provincially known amongst our fishermen as the Iceland auk, and sometimes as the German auk. In the summer, this small oceanic species is found in almost incredible numbers in the open Polar waters near its breeding haunts. In the winter, it moves south into the North Sea and Atlantic, and has then been seen as far south as the Azores. It is a regular visitor to the Eastern shores of Great Britain out at sea, and its occasional occurrence inshore is the result of unusually severe weather and continuous storms, which prevent it feeding. Few winters pass without some storm-driven birds being recorded on the coast or inland. Fishermen say they often come across great numbers of Iceland auks far from land. Ornithologists not acquainted with its habits might conclude, judging from the very occasional examples found dead on the shore or inland, that it is a rare winter migrant off the coast, coming down from high latitudes, when the very opposite is really the case-numbers wintering at sea off these islands. My object, however, is not to write the natural history of the little auk, but to record its special occurrence in extraordinary numbers in the winter of 1894-5. I may state that it is quite impossible in the short range of this notice to speak otherwise than collectively of those found dead, or alive but exhausted, on the coast or in the interior of the country; in some instances in the very centre of England.

* At Belton Park, near Grantham, on February 8th.

The great storm of December 22nd, 1894 (like that known asthe "Royal Charter" gale in October, 1859), will be remembered in this generation by the destruction of life and property on sea and land; commencing from S. W. to W., and then N. W., and blowing for hours with the force of a hurricane.

There were indications in advance in the movements of birds that a great atmospherical disturbance was approaching. On the 18th, the temperature, which for weeks had been abnormally high, fell suddenly, and some snow fell; on this day, I noticed fieldfares coming in from the sea and flying inland; on the 21st, 9 a.m., till noon, there was an enormous immigration of wood pigeons ; and on the 22nd, of Corvida; these latter on the Yorkshire coast in continuous flights, both up the coast from N. to S. and also direct in from the sea, E. to W., the two lines cutting each other at right angles; amongst the immigrant crows, rooks, and daws from the sea, a single raven was observed. Larger flocks of snow-bunting, and equally great flights of another charming Arctio bird-the shore-lark (Otocorys alpestris)—appeared on the coast of Holderness; these latter more especially abundant in January. On December 28th and 29th, strong gales from N. W. to N., much snow and rain, after this a few little auks came on the coast or inland. Again, on January 13th, 1895, a heavy gale from the east with a continuous drift of snow-one of the very worst storms from the east in my recollection and subsequently a great increase in the number of little auks driven to land. It was, however, on January 21st, wind N.E. strong, hail and that the main body of these small ocean wanderers were seen between Scarborough and the Spurn, on their way to the south.

snow,

I will now briefly mention a few of the chief incidents of this invasion as observed along the east coast. Great flights of little auks appeared on the coast of Scotland, especially after the gale of January 13th; and since this, numbers sought refuge in the Firth of Forth, and sheltered bays along the coast. This visitation has been admirably treated by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, in a paper illustrated by a map, in "The Annals of Scottish Natural History," for April, 1895. Mr. Geo. W. Proom, the principal light-keeper on the Longstone reef, Farne islands, reports them as very plentiful on the rocks and at sea. Mr. T. H. Nelson has recorded about 250 obtained near Redcar. At Whitby, Mr. Stonehouse says the first was picked up in the town on January 16th; and, up to February 8th, fifty may have been got in the neighbourhood, and this is probably too low an estimate. At Scarborough, they occurred in extraordinary numbers, here and at Filey probably 400 to 500 would be an approximate number of those picked up or otherwise obtained; the two Scarborough bird-preservers were overwhelmed with work, and had to turn the bulk of their customers away. I am indebted to Dr. Hewetson, of Leeds, for having taken down in writing the report made by Mr. W. J. Clarke, naturalist, of Scarborough. He says:-" At 10 a.m. on January 21st, I was walking south of Cayton bay, about half-way to Filey, not having noticed any birds. I heard a sudden twittering, and, thinking it was a flock of waders, turned quickly round and saw a flock of upwards of two hundred little auks flying south over the breakers, about fifty yards from shore. I fired one shot, killing twelve and recovering seven. The sea was full of them,

swimming and diving. This flock at once towered, and flew straight up the face of the red cliff at Cayton Bay, about 300 feet perpendicular; they mounted quite easily, and disappeared inland. After this, flock after flock passed in a continuous stream for a couple of hours to the south and down wind, from 50-60 in a flock to only 3 or 4. At no minute during this time could you look without seeing flocks passing, and many flew inland, over the lower cliff. I saw a little auk in full flight approach a breaker, through which it dived, to come out on the opposite side swimming. I could have shot any quantity had I wished."

Immense numbers were seen in Filey Bay; Mr. D. Brown, the naturalist there, says he has received the report of the men who shoot from the Brigg, of hundreds seen close in to the rocks, in flights of 20-30 together; about forty, to his knowledge, were picked up on the beach. One shot from the Brigg fell in the water and was instantly seized by a glaucous gull, and swallowed entire.

At Flamborough, the fishermen report the sea north of the headland covered with them, and great numbers all along the coast. Mr. Bailey, the wellknown naturalist recorder of Flamborough, was told by George Emerson, a great observer of birds, that when fishing with his lines down, a "great hunting hawk" struck a little auk from a passing flock, and carried it off. Many were picked up on the coast south of Flamborough, in Bridlington Bay. At the Quay, Mr. Machen told me, one came down the chimney of a bedroom; it was taken in the morning to the beach and set at liberty, flying out to sea apparently none the worse for its adventure. He also said that when skinning an immature great black-backed gull, he found an entire little auk in the stomach, so little injured that he intended setting it up in the same case. Little auks were picked up all along the coast of Holderness, and many also in the interior. At the Spurn on January 21st, continuous flocks were seen all day passing to the south. On the flat and dreary coast of Lincolnshire, where the sea recedes for miles, the close observation of birds which keep the sea is difficult and practically impossible.

Many were picked up on the shore and inland in the open country, in fields, on roads, and in ditches, one in a poultry yard amongst the chickens; most of these ultimately finding their way to the local bird-stuffers. Near Donna Nook, on this coast, Mr. G. H. Caton Haigh, of Grainsby Hall, on January 26th, shot one just inside the surf, which was very heavy, and saw a flock of about a score on the wing. In Norfolk, up to February 21st, Mr. J. H. Gurney, of Keswick Hall, had scheduled 276 occurrences in that county. Regarding the total number picked up or obtained from one source or another on the east coast of England, I feel it impossible to give even an approximate estimate. On the Yorkshire coast, with which I am best acquainted, the number could not be less than a thousand, but probably nearer fifteen hundred.

Little auks, picked up inland, some of which I have handled, had their feathers clogged with wet soil on which they had crouched. In no instance do I know of any food having been found in their stomachs. All I have seen were

very thin, the great pectoral muscles wasted, and the breast bone sharp and prominent. They vary much in size; size, however, is no indication of sex. Mr. Oxley Grabham, of Scarborough, who has examined a great many, told me that one of the largest and one of the least were both females. Altogether, amongst those which have been obtained, the females greatly exceed the males in number. The weight is from 4 to 5 oz.

In their normal condition, they are bonnie, plump birds, clothed with a dense and close plumage of strongly contrasting black and white; at the same time, they exhibit every possible variation, hardly any two being quite alike. The pure white speck above the small eye, white edging to the scapularies, and the white tips of the secondary quills, are all well-marked and attractive features. In some, the white of the cheeks and sides of the neck extends backwards, so as to meet behind the neck. I have seen one with the occiput pure white. The colour of the soft parts varies in different individuals. The short grouse-like bill is black, and differs much in size when a series of birds is compared. Inside of mouth flesh colour, with the palate studded with reversed horny papillæ, tongue very large, iris dark hazel; in a single Lincolnshire example, it was a dark slatyblue. Tarsi and toes in front a bluish or slaty-white, the same parts behind and beneath, dusky (almost black in some); webs dark. One got at Scarborough retains a considerable proportion of the black on the throat and breast, characteristic of the summer plumage; and, in many, this pectoral band is more or less clearly defined; in others, absent. All observers agree they fly very fast, with rapid movements of their narrow pointed wings, in a direct line, like a shower of bullets; they can turn, and also rise suddenly to a higher level, with great facility. On the water, they sit buoyantly, floating like corks, and are the most expert of divers, even in the heaviest seas.

Gulls leave the water when it grows too rough, and fly inland to rest and feed, but it is not so with true sea birds-the petrels, auks, guillemots, and puffins, these must keep the water or die; their home it is and always must be— an abiding place in sunshine and calm, in darkness and storm; a feeding, sleeping, and playing ground, ever shifting and unstable, and this at all seasons, but especially in the later autumn and winter, when they have drawn away hundreds of leagues from their breeding haunts. Rarely at any time for a few days together can our northern ocean be called a glassy or a silken sea, for even in so-called moderate weather, the grey waters are heaped and piled into long foam-topped ridges; and salt spray from broken crests, driven before the wind, bites into the flesh like the sting of a whip-lash. Then too, and for weeks together, the surface of the dreary grey plain of shifting waters is swept by winds cold, cruel, pitiless; or, at times, the giant strength of the northern hurricane will beat the waters almost flat, into the likeness of a seething cauldron of hissing froth, till distances become obscure in a shroud of snow-white spindrift, and the hoarse scream of the storm fiend is a reality drowning all other sounds between heaven and earth. How sea birds manage to survive winters like the last, has long been a marvel to me. It is the admirable adaptation of their nature to its special environments, faculties acquired and handed down through

thousands of years of an ocean life. Cold, with the normally high temperature and dense protecting clothing possessed by birds, cannot hurt them as long as they get suitable food; it is rather that they succumb through inability, in bad weather, to procure their ordinary supply of small crustaceans and marine insects. We must not forget, however, that sea birds are much less subject to accidents than birds are on the land. Their chief foes are predatory fish and cetaceans, and, in addition with the smaller sort--as auks and petrels-the larger gulls. At the same time, they are generally quite safe, unless they approach too near the shore, from the great enemy and destroyer of bird-life—that is, man himself.

It is suggestive of the arctic character of the recent winter that three examples of a purely arctic species, namely Brünnich's guillemot (Uria Bruennichi), were got at Scarborough and Filey at the same time as the little auks came inshore; this guillemot is an extremely rare straggler to British waters, and has only once been recognised, many years ago, at Heligoland. Other arctic visitors were plentiful: glaucous gulls, the burgomaster of the whalers, a few Iceland gulls, and also the lesser gull (Larus minutus), fulmars, many whooper swans, grey geese and brent geese; the latter shewing a great variety, from the white-bellied western Atlantic form, to others almost black underneath, probably all drawn together from a wide area in the Polar seas. All these frequented the coast and estuary of the Humber, with ducks, divers, and grebes of many sorts; but chiefly mallard, wigeon, scaup, common and veltet scoters, pochard, female and young golden-eyes, tufted ducks. Inshore along Kilnsea bay, the floating ice was closely packed, and a mile in width, and, when covered with new-fallen snow, was highly suggestive of the scenery of an arctic fjord.

I have endeavoured, in this slight sketch, to shew the special circumstances in which ocean birds, confused and blinded in the darkness, are driven headlong before a gale to great distances, so that by dawn they have possibly travelled hundreds of miles from their sea home, to drop exhausted, it may be, in some fair and pleasant land like Herefordshire--a land of apple orchards and hop gardens, of fruitful valley and rough hillside, running stream and wooded wilderness. Unfortunately, where the poor bewildered wanderers touch earth, their fate is sealed-it is not their element; and storm-driven birds like farwandering migrants, which have missed their course, possess no faculty, as far as we know, of finding their way back; with them to be lost, is to be lost for ever.

Mr. Cordeaux was gratefully thanked for this excellent paper by all who heard it. Besides its own intrinsic merits the Woolhope Club accepts it for insertion in the Transactions because it illustrates several problems in the migration of birds, and shows some causes by which birds seldom seen and unfamiliar to inland dwellers are occasionally found among the rivers and woodlands of Herefordshire. It comes therefore under the scope of papers which treat of local ornithology, and, as such, will be valued by all lovers of birds.