372 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



In Heligoland the bird lias been observed once, but nnfor- 

 tunately, though it remained for nearly a week, was not Idlled. 

 It was slightly injured by a shot which gi'azed it, on the 1st of 

 June 1877, the day on which it was first observed ; this, though 

 it had the good effect of keeping the bird here till its wound 

 was healed, had, at the same time, made it so shy that it flew off, 

 rising at as great a distance as a hundi-ed paces or even more. 

 The bird took up its residence in a field of very short oats, 

 where, with a telescope, it could be observed for any desirable 

 length of time, at the distance mentioned, from above the edge of a 

 bank of earth. Clans and Jan Aeuckens, as well as my son Ludwig, 

 made every imagmable effort to secure it, but to no purpose. It 

 left the island with its Avound healed on the 6tli of the month. 



The first report which reached me in I'egard to this rarity was 

 couched in these terms : ' A Buntmg, very like the female of 

 E. melanocephala, but with the back of a finer grey, and the outer 

 tail-feathers with a largo white spot.' 



Among a number of skins of E. melanocephala, E. luteola and 

 other similar species, a beautiful skin of Kriiper's, belonging to a 

 male bird, was at once noted as belonging to the present species 

 with the additional remark : ' Neck not quite so yellow.' 



So far as I am concerned I have no doubt as to the identity 

 of this example. As, in many other cases, simultaneously Avith 

 the above-named Bunting, one of its countrymen, a one-year old 

 male of E. melanocephala, was likewise observed here. This I suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining on the 3d of June. 



As appears from Kriiper's detailed reports, this is a breeding 

 species in Asia Minor. The same observer adds that there can be 

 no doubt about this bird belonging to the European fauna, as it was 

 said to have been discovered during recent years also in Kussia. 



174. — Ortolan Bunting [Gartenammer]. 



EMBERIZA HORTULANA, Linn. 



Heligolandish : Ortelloan =Orto/a.n.. 



Emhcriza hortulana. Naumann, iv. 2 58. 



Ortolan Bunting. Dresser, i v. 185. 



Bruant ortolan. Temminck, Manuel, i. 311, iii. 225. 



The reputation as a delicate morsel for the palate, which this 

 bird has held from the days of the old Romans through all 

 subsequent ages, has never reached Heligoland ; for on this island 

 the bird, both in spring and autumn, is left completely unnoticed. 



