THE UNCHARTED SKY 153 



they seemed about evenly distributed, those imme- 

 diately over the flames glowing like coals of fire, 

 those farther away appearing silvery white.' 



' ' A similar picture is given by Gatke, the author- 

 ity on European bird migration, who writes of the 

 conditions at Heligoland lighthouse during a night 

 in the migration season: 'The whole sky is now 

 filled mth the babel of hundreds of thousands of 

 voices, and, as we approach the lighthouse, there 

 presents itself to the eye a scene which more than 

 confirms the experience of the ear. 



*' 'Under the intense glare of the light, swarms 

 of Larks, Starlings and Thrushes career around 

 in ever-varying density, like showers of brilliant 

 sparks or huge snow^akes driven onwards by a 

 gale and continuously replaced as they disappear 

 by freshly arriving multitudes. Mingled with 

 these birds are large numbers of Golden Plovers, 

 Lapwings, Curlews and Sandpipers. 



" 'Now and again, too, a Woodcock is seen, or 

 an Owl, with slow beating of its wings, emerges 

 from the darkness into the circle of light, but 

 again speedily vanishes, accompanied by the plain- 

 tive cry of an unhappy Thrush that has become its 

 prey. 



" 'Such a migration stream lasts through a 



