Report on the Migration of Birds in the Spring and Autumn of 1881. Third Report

This volume presents the painstaking results of a 19th‑century scientific committee that asked lighthouse keepers across Britain and Ireland to record the birds that passed their stations each spring and autumn. The authors collated hundreds of entries—from a wheatear sighted off the Orkney Isles to a night‑heron taken near the Faroes—showing the varied species, dates and weather conditions that marked the great avian highways of the era. By organizing the data coast by coast, the report offers a clear picture of how migration patterns were first mapped by ordinary observers stationed at the sea’s edge.

Beyond raw numbers, the narrative captures the spirit of early citizen science, revealing both the enthusiasm and the occasional gaps in the records. Readers hear the voices of keepers in Scotland, England and Ireland as they note rare sightings, occasional kills, and the prevailing winds that guided the travelers. The work stands as a fascinating snapshot of natural history and collaborative inquiry long before modern tracking technology.