THE BIKDS OF HELIGOLAND 233 



mine, the latter may be employed with advantage, but on the top 

 of the plateau they are quite impracticable, for the violent north- 

 westerly gales which prevail here in autumn and winter very soon 

 remove every freely exposed bush, even the lowest. 



A netting arrangement of this kind is here called ' troossel-goard,' 

 which, literally translated, means ' throstle-garden.' The term 

 ' throstle-bush,' which, logically speaking, would perhaps be more 

 correct, is however hardly admissible, inasmuch as the language of 

 Heligoland has no such word as 'bush' in its vocabulary ; every bush 

 or shrub, however small, — nay, even the potted flowers in the 

 windows — being indiscriminately designated ' boamen,' i.e. trees. 



There are about twenty of these throstle-bushes on the island ; 

 and the capture of the birds by these means forms a very remunera- 

 tive employment ; for, after the potatoes, and what little cabbage 

 there is, have been gathered in, the surface of the island is as bai-e 

 as the sea which surrounds it. 



Consequently, birds like the Thrushes, used to shady woods, are 

 powerfully attracted by the few dead tAvigs and bushes stuck in the 

 ground, and hasten towards them with the utmost readiness. Once 

 inside the bush, they are, by means of long sticks, driven without 

 much trouble to that portion of the net which lies loose upon the 

 ground, where for the most part they stick their heads through 

 the meshes, and are unable to get back again. 



During a strong migration it is by no means rare to catch 

 several himdreds of Thrushes in one morning in one of these con- 

 trivances. If the weather is less favourable, one is quite satisfied 

 to get from thirty to fifty. Besides Thrushes, many other birds 

 get accidentally under the net, such as Woodcocks {Scolopax rusfi- 

 cula, L.), Wood Pigeons {Colmnha palumbus, L.), the Landrail 

 (Crex irratensis, L.), and its near relations ; all the species of 

 Shrike, the Long-eared Owl {Sfrix otus, L.) ; the Sparrow-Hawk 

 (Accipiter nisus, L.), too, is by no means infrequently lured thither 

 while in pursuit of his prey. Generally, also, the bush teems with 

 Leaf-warblers, Finches (Frlngillidce), and Titmice (Paridce) ; 

 these however can, by reason of their small size, easily escape 

 through the meshes of the net, getting off without further damage 

 than a good fright. 



I have described the ' troossel-goard ' in such detail because 

 one might, perhaps to advantage, set up arrangements of this kind 

 in other places, not only on the barren islands of the coasts of 

 England and Norway, but also on heaths and extensive fields lying 

 in the path of the ' throstle-track,' — a term perhaps not unfittingly 

 applied to the autumn migration of the Thrushes, when proceeding, 

 as it frequently does, at a low elevation above the ground. 



