Abstract
THE forms of birds flying at a great height and crossing the solar disc, as described by Mr. Bray in your issue of August 29, have been rather frequently seen here during the spring and autumn months, and the writer has always attributed such flights to migrating birds on passage. They have usually been noticed while observing the image of the sun projected on a card screen from the eyepiece of a small equatorial telescope; occasionally, however, they have attracted attention at night also, crossing the disc of the moon, upon which their forms are very clearly defined, and with careful focussing (which is very nearly the same as for parallel rays) it has almost been possible to identify the species from the shape of the wings and manner of flight; birds of the swallow tribe, in particular, have been clearly distinguished, and others resembling the thrush, possibly redwings or fieldfares, have been noticed. The direction of flight, according to the writer's experience, is nearly always towards the south in August and September, and the reverse in April.
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EVERSHED, J. A Remarkable Flight of Birds. Nature 52, 508 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/052508b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/052508b0
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