368 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



loud and mellow. Most of the birds are peevish in captivity, and 

 tire themselves by impetuously fluttering against and shaking the 

 bars of their cage ; this is probablj' duo to the fact of one's not 

 being able to avoid selecting the prettily-marked old males for 

 cage-birds. My example, however, which I have kept now for 

 more than ten years, is so tame that it will take flies from the 

 finger, and even allows me to put my hand into the cage and softly 

 stroke its back with my finger. 



In the spring this bird will accept so-called earwigs, and in the 

 summer, flies, but rejects both these insects as autumn approaches. 

 Small and moderately sized moths are always acceptable, and 

 spiders are received with the utmost readiness at all times of the 

 year. Its staple food, however, is canary-seed, and as much green 

 food as is procurable. Sustained in this manner, the bird keeps in 

 excellent condition, renewing its jDlumage every autumn to such 

 perfection that it is in no way inferior to a bird living in a state of 

 nature. 



As has been already mentioned. Shore Larks are very rest- 

 less birds, constantly running rapidly and restlessly about the 

 fields. They are also rapid and dexterous flyers, and during their 

 flight give repeated utterance to their call-note which, if not loud, 

 is clear and distinct: it resemblesaclear ringing Zie — hi — hi, continu- 

 ously repeated, and has much resemblance to the call of the Hedge- 

 Sparrow, except that it is louder. 



The Shore Lark occurs as a breeding species from northern 

 Scandinavia to Behring Strait, as well as through the whole of 

 northeni America. It does not reside in Greenland, and has never 

 been met with in Iceland nor on the Faroe Islands. 



Bunting — Ember ica. — This genus embraces about forty species, 

 distributed over Europe, Asia, and America, from ten to twelve 

 being breeding birds in Europe. Among the birds of Heligoland 

 it occupies a most prominent place ; among the seventeen species 

 which have been observed here, no less than nine are of exceptional 

 occurrence, among which Emheriza rustica is represented by ten, 

 E. melanocephala by at least fifteen, and E. pusilla by from forty 

 to fifty examples. 



As compared with this numerous occurrence of species from such 

 far-off homes, it is very singular that others which count among 

 common breeding birds as far north as central Germany, such as 

 E. cirlus and E. cia, have each only occurred here twice in the 

 long space of fifty years, especially when even E. hiteola from the 



