Mr. II. Diiriiford on North-Frisian Ornithology. 105 



other birds may cea.se to visit the islands, such as Strepsilas and 

 Anser; but he was not sure whether the latter was breeding. 

 It is obvious that many species have decreased in numbers ; 

 and the making and enforcing of protection laws, how ever 

 inconvenient to the collector, must meet the approval of all 

 real ornithologists. In Rafn's time between three hundred 

 and four hundred eggs of Sterna caspia were laid ; the state 

 of things is very different now^, as my previous remarks show. 

 On the other hand he states that ten thousand eggs of Larus 

 argentatus were yearly gathered from the dunes, while the 

 farmer who owns the northern portion of Sylt assured us 

 that some years ago from forty to fifty thousand eggs were 

 taken during the season. It is difficult to reconcile these 

 apparently conflicting statements ; but it is possible the pre- 

 sent owner of the soil was not in possession of it till after 

 1857, and doubtless the birds increased yearly in numbers 

 under his protective hand. At the present day, I can state 

 decidedly that, taking into consideration the fact of the eggs 

 being continually gathered by the natives, forty thousand 

 would be a much more correct estimate of the number laid 

 during the season than ten thousand ; and I think it very 

 probable Rafn was in error in his statement. It must be 

 borne in mind that we did not visit the southern portion 

 of Sylt, we had only time to cursorily examine the northern 

 half of the island ; and as that portion entirely consists of 

 diy sandhills, we probably did not lose any thing by not 

 doing so. 



Mr. John Baker, of Cambridge, who visited these islands in 

 1861, informs me that he found Alauda br achy dactyl a and 

 Emberiza hortulana there, though both were rare. I may 

 remark that the first is not included in Kjoerbolling's work, 

 ' Danmark's Fugle,' nor as belonging to the North-German 

 district by Borggreve in his ' Vogel-Fauna von Norddeutsch- 

 land ' (p. 70) . I should therefore imagine Mr. Baker to be 

 in error in this ease. He also met with Liniosa (syocephala 

 commonly, w hich is indeed very likeh'. 



Before concluding these remarks, it affords me gi-eat plea- 

 sure to express my indebtedness to Professor Newton, who. 



