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I. COURSE OF MIGRATION GENERALLY 

 IN HELIGOLAND 



That strange and mysterious phenomenon in the hfe of birds, their 

 migratory journeys, repeated at tixed intervals and with unerring 

 exactness, has for thousands of years called forth the astonishment 

 and admiration of mankind. 



From times of hoary antiquity the shores of the Mediterranean 

 have presented to the eye of the spectator and inquirer the picture 

 of countless hosts of feathered strangers pouring into these sunny 

 lands from the dark and dismal regions of the North, and after a 

 few months' stay in a milder clime, returning once more to their 

 mysterious homes. To the observer of early times this phenomenon 

 seemed so wonderful, so full of mystery, that these bird-flights 

 came to be believed as portending the fate of men and empires. 

 How differently does our modern age view these movements ! To 

 us, the sight of our songsters, the familiar companions of the flower- 

 laden summer months, hastening away before the raw winter days, 

 cannot be otherwise than pleasing, for we know that it is their only 

 means of escaping from the many hardships which winter brings 

 in his train, and to which large numbers of them would unfailingly 

 succumb. In the spirit we follow our feathered friends over the 

 towering heights of the snow-clad Alps, sharing in their joy when 

 some high mountain valley offers to a portion of the widely 

 spreading host some temporary rest and refreshment. Next, our 

 eye, like theirs, espies in the dim distance the deep blue, wide- 

 stretching expanse of the Mediterranean ; this too is soon passed 

 over, and the scene shifts once more to the boundless sandy desert, 

 trembhng beneath the tierce rays of the African sun. Here we 

 must take leave of our little favourites ; though a few of them which 

 have chosen the broad Nile route we may perhaps accompany some 

 little distance further ; but to these also must we bid adieu as we 

 come in sight of the mighty Pyramids, to the borders of those 



