348 THE BIEDS OF HELIGOLAND 



Europe, 1 will give here a few extracts from earlier years of my 

 ornithological diary : — 



184S. September. From 17th to end of month, shot over thirty 



A. richardi — very many throughout October — the last 



on the 29th of November. 

 1S49. Sept. 10th to 2Sth. From ten to over twenty examples 



daily : the last bird shot on the 29th of November at 2° 



below freezing-point. 

 1859. September. Very many daily, from begimiing of month 



until 20th. 



1868. September 20. A. richardi very frequent since end of 



August ; repeatedly up to as many as tifty examples in 

 one day — often from twenty to thirty together. 

 „ Sept. 30. A. richardi still very manj'. 

 Oct. 30. A. richardi stdl numerous. 



1869. September 15 to 25. A. ricliardi daily; from ten, twenty, 



to thhty examples. Until end of October, daily, six to 

 eight examples. 



1870. Sept. 21. From the first week of the month, A. richardi, 



many every day. 

 „ November 23. An old bird, 8 J inches = 203 mm. long. 



187G. September 4. Ten to twelve examples; 6th, twenty and 

 more ; 15th, twenty to thirty. 



Those birds must also have been very numerous here in the 

 autiunn of 1839 ; at that time I did not possess the least knowledge 

 of birds, but remember sitting, on a fine autumn afternoon about 

 the beginning of October, with Oehich Aeuckens, the eldest of the 

 three brothers, on a bench on the northern jiomt of the island, 

 and seeing countless numbers of Meadow Pipits, Larks, and other 

 species running about in front of us on a wide grass plain. Aeuckens 

 called my attention to some of them as something out of the com- 

 mon — these were Kichard's Pipits, and we could see thuteen of 

 them withm a distance of tifty paces. There must have been 

 hundreds of these birds on Heligoland on that day. 



On the island of Borkum, fifty-six (geographical) miles from 

 here, Herr von Droste - Hiilshoft' ( Vogehuelt der Nordseeinsel 

 Borkum, p. 105) met with this Pipit in 1868, during the months 

 of September and October, on two occasions, in companies of 

 seven individuals, and six times singly, or in twos and threes. 

 In stating, however, that this species does not proceed by steps, 

 like other Pipits, but in hops like a Thrush, the last-named observer 

 has decidedly fallen into an error which will be at once set aside by 

 an examination of the bird's footprints in the sand. Besides observ- 

 ing the birds in numberless instances in the open air, I kept one 



