Migration of Birds 329 



easy shot, for there was none of the doubling which one 

 sees in the English woods in autumn, but the birds flew 

 straight away, with a flight like that of an Owl. More than 

 once, too, when in Heligoland, I shot a Jack-Snipe in the 

 day-time on Sandy Island, for when flushed, the birds often 

 perched on the top of the seaweed and allowed themselves 

 to be approached within gun-shot. 



Seebohm was extremely keen on getting Willow Warblers 

 {Phylloscopus), a genus about which he was writing at the 

 time of our visit, while I was equally anxious to get Crows 

 for description in the third volume of my ' Catalogue of 

 Birds.' I was glad to hear from Gatke that I could have a 

 cart-load of Hooded Crows if I wished, and I understood 

 afterwards what he meant. For many days after our 

 arrival not a " Hoody " put in an appearance, and I was 

 greatly pleased when at last a small flock settled on the 

 island, out of which I managed to secure two specimens 

 under rather amusing circumstances. The Crows had 

 settled on the edge of the cliff, and were about a dozen in 

 number ; two of them I managed to stalk, but, to my disap- 

 pointment, they rolled over the side of the cliff. As I was 

 suffering from vertigo at the time and could not look down 

 any great height, I did not like to approach the edge, but 

 at last, wishing to see what had become of the birds, I 

 crawled through the mud to the side of the rock, and 

 looked over. The tide was out, and, two hundred feet 

 below me, I saw a man walking with a gun under his arm, 

 so I shouted to him in the best German I could muster, 

 that I had shot two " Nebel-Krahe," and that if he would 

 find them and take them to Aueckens to be skinned, 

 I would give him sixpence ! He held up his hand in 

 token of assent, and the next morning I found that the 

 Crows had been delivered and were already skinned when 

 I reached the bird-stuffer's shop. That same evening, after 

 dinner, I was walking on the few planks which at that time 



