COURSE OF MIGRATION IN HELIGOLAND 15 



during the latter half of the month, especially towards its close. 

 Predominating in numbers among these night travellers are the 

 Skylarks; next come the Starlings and Thrushes, always accom- 

 panied by the many different forms of the great Snipe Family. 

 Strange to say, the Golden-crested Wren occasionally, though 

 rarely, makes its appearance in such migratory flights, as in the 

 night from the 28th-29th October 1882, during which those tiny 

 creatures swarmed round the lighthouse like so many snowflakes, 

 while every square foot of the island literally teemed with them. 

 The migration in this case lasted from about ten o'clock in the 

 evening until nine the next morning. A similar exceptionally large 

 migration of Larks took place in October 1883. 



Though by reason of the changeability of the weather, migra- 

 tions of this kind hardly ever extend beyond the duration of a 

 single night, the one last mentioned continued through four entire 

 nights, commencing, according to my ornithological diary, on the 

 evening of the 26th at eleven o'clock with myriads of Larks and 

 only comparatively few Starlings, and lasting with varying intensity 

 until the morning of the 31st. 



The landscape, which forms the background of so rich an un- 

 folding of animal life, possesses in and for itself an extraordinary 

 fascination. An equable calm dark night, without moon or stars, 

 and attended by a very light south-east wind, are the conditions 

 necessary for the grandest possible development of a migration of 

 this nature ; the presence in the atmosphere at the same time of a 

 considerable quantity of moisture powerfully augments the intensity 

 of the phenomena. 



The darkness, equally dense on all sides, amid which the light- 

 house appears to float like some great luminous body ; the broad 

 beams, which radiate from it in all directions, and in the dim air 

 seem to stretch into infinite space ; the consciousness of the near 

 presence of the great sea around, and the complete absence of every 

 sound in surrounding Nature, all these combine to form a picture 

 of the utmost solemnity and grandeur. 



This wide silence is first broken by the solitary low ' Zeep ' (czip) 

 of the Song Thrush, and perhaps here and there the clear call-note 

 of the Lark. Then again silence reigns for a minute or two, only 

 to be once more suddenly broken by the far-sounding 'Ghiik' 

 (ghee-eek) of the Blackbird, soon followed by the manifold ' Tir-r-r ' 

 (tir-r-r) of a swiftly-passing flock of Sandpipers. The calls of the 

 Skylark rapidly increase in number, smaller and larger flocks of 

 the birds being heard approaching and disappearing near and far. 

 The hoarse 'Etsch' (Etsh) of the Snipe is accompanied by the 

 clear ' Tilth ' (tilt) of the Golden Plover, the clear, loud ' Klti-uh ' 



