288 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



■vvith them. To these must, further, be added such examples as 

 were stuffed by Heligoland stuffors in my time, and passed over 

 into private collections, as well as such as went to Hamburg, mostly 

 into the possession of Brandt, at the beginning of the thirties, 

 through the agency of old Koopmann and Reymers ; among the 

 latter was a bird which successfully evaded all pursuit in the 

 course of the day, but in the evening was found asleep, during a 

 lantern hunt after Chaffinches, and Idlled. 



The migration of this Warbler commences in Heligoland during 

 the last ten days of September, and continues until the end of October; 

 on several occasions the bird has been met with as late as the begin- 

 ning of November. This bird, like all the Siberian species which 

 visit Heligoland, is only extremely rarely met with in spring. How- 

 ever safely we may look forward to meeting with it every autumn, 

 if the weather is at all favourable, we may be equally certain that in 

 the spring we shall look for it in vain. During a spell of more than 

 fifty years I have only seen it twice at the latter season — once on 

 the 25th of April, the second time on the 2.5th of May ; the first 

 was a very beautiful inale, but, imfortunately, was so much damaged 

 by the shot, that it could not be prepared for the cabinet. 



The conditions which favour the passage of this bird to Heligo- 

 land are an east wind, particularly a light south-east, and warm 

 sunny weather. After its arrival it frequents ^principally the few 

 tree-like willow shrubs in the gardens between the houses of the 

 Upper Plateau (Oberland). It appears to have a special preference 

 for Sidic smithiania, for which reason I always cultivate this species 

 in my garden. It is hardly ever seen on S. caprea or on elders, but 

 likes high thorns and the greater maples (Acer ijseudo-'plataniis). 

 In its manner of hopping through the branches of these tree-like 

 bushes and garden-shrubs it exactly resembles the Chiftchaff and 

 Willow Wren. In doing so, it does not, however, make use of its 

 wings for jiropelling itself, as the two last-named species do inces- 

 santly, even when they do not require their wings for the purpose 

 of fluttering from one branch to another ; nor does this bird hop 

 about in the unsteadj', and, to all appearances, aimless manner of 

 the latter birds, but progresses calmly and gradually from the lo\\er 

 branches to the top of the tree or bush. 



The bird only rarely gives utterance to a call-note ; generally it 

 does so only when flying away. This call has the soiuid of a some- 

 what long-drawn, softly-intoned 'hjiiph,' and somewhat apj^roaches in 

 character the call-note of Anthus pratensis. Swinhoe has very 

 aptly sought to reproduce this sound bj' the English word ' sweet.' 



In its whole bearing this bird has nothing by which it could 

 remind us of the Golden-crested Wren, a bird which hops about in 



