156 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Heligoland. 



Salicaria concolor (p. 88) is identified by its first primary as 

 an Acrocephalus. The wing-formula puts A. streperus and A. 

 palustris altogether out of the question, and casts a doubt 

 upon A. agricola. The length of the wing and the compara- 

 tive shortness of the tail (measurements omitted in 'The 

 Ibis/ but fortunately to be found in ' Stray Feathers ') dis- 

 pose of A. agricola altogether, and leave us with the con- 

 clusion that this bird is Acrocephalus dumetorum (Blyth), 

 with a slightly shorter bill than usual ("oS). 



Salicaria scita. Dresser is probably right in identifying 

 this bird with Hypolais caligata (Licht.). In 'Stray Fea- 

 thers ' (iii. p. 426) we learn that the first primary is twice 

 as long as the coverts, that the second primary equals the 

 sixth, and that the beak is small. 



Salicaria scitopsis (p. 88). The first primary being twice as 

 long as the coverts marks this bird as a Hypolais. The second 

 primary being between the sixth and seventh, the length of 

 wing 2*.25, and the culmen 'SI, all point to Hypolais caligata 

 (Licht.), though the dimensions are somewhat smaller than 

 usual. The wing is not rounded enough for Phylloscopus 

 fuscatus or its allies. 



XV. — Supplementary Notes on the Ornithology of Heligoland. 

 By Henry Seebohm. 



Two articles have already appeared in ' The Ibis ' on the orni- 

 thology of the island of Heligoland. The first was in 1862 

 (p. 58), and consisted of a translation of a letter by Dr. J. H. 

 Blasius which appeared in 'Naumannia' for 1858. The 

 second article was written by Mr. John Cordeaux, and ap- 

 peared in 'The Ibis^ for 1875 (p. 172). 



The information contained in these articles was so startling 

 that an apology is scarcely necessary for adding corroborative 

 testimony to their general accuracy, for correcting a few un- 

 important errors, and for mentioning some still more recent 

 novelties of special interest. 



Mr. Gaetke's work on the birds of Heligoland is making 



