ISSUED QUARTERLY BY THE ROYAL SOCIETY 

 FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Vol. VIII. 



AUTUMN. 1919. 



[No. 7. 



Heligoland. 



Although seemingly abandoned to Germany 

 by the Versailles Conference, Heligoland and 

 its birds are not yet given over to destruction ,_ 

 by bird students and bird lovers. The scheme 

 commended to the Prime Minister and other 

 British delegates by the Annual Meeting of the 

 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 and to the United States representatives by 

 Dr. Hornaday, is finding increased support 

 the more widely it is known and discussed. 

 No proposal as to its future can make a more 

 general appeal, says the Bulletin of the Massa- 

 chusetts Audubon Society, " than that for 

 making Heligoland an ornithological observa- 

 tion station and bird sanctuary under inter- 

 national control." It would, says Land cmd 

 Water (August 21st), "be a pleasant incident 

 of the peace, and not without a touch of 

 dramatic irony, if this most secret and for- 

 bidding fortress could be turned into a haven 

 of rest for migrating birds." 



This would be in truth but a reversion to 

 the state of things that existed before British 

 folly allowed the rock to bristle with German 

 guns ; save that the League of Nations would 

 safeguard alike the peace of peoples and the 

 safety of birds. 



President Wilson is stated to have objected 

 to " dictate " to Germany anything further 

 than the reduction of the fort. The one and 

 desirable alternative is to take the place out of 

 German hands. Left to them there would be 

 but a continuance of present conditions, when 

 thousands upon thousands of weak and weary 

 birds which seek to rest for a night upon the 

 island are trapped and netted by the inhabi- 

 tants. 



An attractive development of the scheme 

 is brought forward by a correspondent who had 

 not heard of the Society's appeal, but who 

 writes to urge that Heligoland be converted 

 into a Bird Sanctuary in memory of British 

 Merchant Seamen who lost their lives in the 

 war through German brutality. 



" If your Society and kindred societies were given a 

 mandate to make the place a Bird Sanctuary for ever, 

 and if every passing ship were to salute it, and the 

 Germans be made to dip their colours in memory of 

 their victims, the moral lesson might be profitable." 



Mr. Havelock Wilson is stated to approve 

 of the proposal. 



Perhaps the best summary of the case for the 

 birds is furnished by Mr. G. A. B. Dewar, who 

 writes {Observer, August 3rd, 1919) : — 



" At two seasons of the year Heligoland is one 

 of the most interesting spots on the earth, for ifc 

 lies on the route of vast numbers, really myriads, 

 of birds and moths — and occasionally butterflies — ■ 

 during their mysterious and tremendous migrations 

 from continent to continent, from clime to clime. 

 The most fascinating book on migration, touched 

 throughout with the radium of genius, was written 

 on " The Birds of Heligoland" {i.e., the migrants pass- 

 ing over Heligoland) by Gatke. The Russians and 

 Germans have done more than any other people, 

 old or new world, to examine and illustrate the mar- 

 vellous and fascinating problem of bird migration. 

 Gatke, especially, gave up his life to watching and 

 recording bird and insect phenomena at HeUgoland. 

 His theories are disputable, but they are profound 

 and daring, and informed by a curious beauty of 

 thought and expression. I advise no one to press for 

 the destruction of Heligoland — the greatest of migra- 

 tion observatories — and equally I advise no one 

 to make light of such records and hypotheses as 

 Giitke put together and advanced, for therebj' they 

 will show only ignorance and follj'. HeUgoland is 

 invaluable to science, and it is quite possible that if 

 ultimately we succeed in solving the hard problem 

 of bird migration — particularly what guides the 

 travellers and what upholds them during their sublime 

 journeys — we shall be able to solve, at the same time, 

 certain great, baffling human mysteries. 



" In short, Heligoland is grandly worth while." 



"It is among the best places in the world 

 for observing migrant birds," writes Mr. Beach 

 Thomas in the Daily Mail, " and it is appar- 

 ently useless for all other purposes." 



From both scientific and humanitarian points 

 of view, it will be little short of a scandal 

 should so great an opportunity, so unique a 

 sanctuary, be lost. 



