Abstract
ON the evening of October 7, 1895, while observing the passage of the moon through the Pleiades for occultations, my attention was attracted by a flight of birds across the moon's disc. This continued with more or less regularity the whole time I was at work, from 7.30 to 9.30, the birds usually crossing singly, but sometimes in groups of two, three, or even four. In all, I saw perhaps 50 or 60; assuming a like frequency during the intervals when I was not at the telescope, from 200 to 250 must have crossed the disc during the two hours. All were flying south with a single exception. Their outlines and the flapping motions of their wings were very distinct; none were soaring. The telescope is a 12-inch refractor: eyepiece of power 90. The moon was low, its altitude ranging from 5° 15°.
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WEST, R. Flight of Birds Across the Moon's Disc. Nature 53, 131 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/053131a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/053131a0
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