i86 THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 



be overlooked in a country so large as Britain. 

 Moreover nearly all these Heligoland rarities are 

 small Passerines, and of dull colours, or closely 

 resemble commoner species whose presence excites 

 no interest. Some, however, do escape, probably 

 by way of the Rhine, and reach our shores, among 

 the most remarkable being the Needle-tailed Swift. 

 We are also richer than Heligoland in lost wanderers 

 from the south and from America, owing to the 

 British Islands being the first land to be sighted on 

 this side of the Atlantic, at least half the species in 

 the above table being from that Continent. Such 

 facts are only too obvious, and make the wonders of 

 Heligoland, great as they are, appear far more legend- 

 ary than real. It may be worthy of remark to call 

 attention to the curious fact of so many rare and 

 abnormal migrants occurring in certain districts. 

 Many of our rarest visitants have been taken one 

 after the other, both individuals as well as species, 

 along certain lines or in certain spots, which seems 

 to indicate that there is at least some method in 

 their movements. 



I trust I haA'e now succeeded in my endeavour 

 to show at least a few of the principal perils that 

 surround the migrant birds. Mortality is high 

 amongst them ; and yet this heavy death-roll serves 

 a wise and important purpose, as a Check upon the 

 undue increase of birds so specially favoured as 

 they who live almost in a perpetual summer, or 

 under conditions that entail the very lowest minimum 

 of privation. 



