32 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



the autumn migration from any other than an easterly direction. 

 Henceforth the westerly course of these Buntings must have 

 deviated towards the south, inasmuch as on the Shetland Islands 

 only solitary instances of their occurrence have been reported 

 (Saxby). They travel south as far as southern Sweden, where they 

 again associate themselves with the westerly flights of members of 

 their own species, whose breeding homes lie further south, and thus 

 in part reach England, in the eastern counties of which country 

 their number regularly increases with the approach of winter. 



The case of the Shorelark is of similar kind ; these birds arrive 

 in autumn in East Finmark from the east, and are consequently 

 known there under the name of Russian Snow Buntings. Collett 

 says (see Dresser, iv.) that they travel from Norway east, and 

 thence down through Sweden, and are seen in Lower Norway only 

 in exceptionally rare instances. In southern Sweden they unite 

 themselves with those coming from Asia : and thus have arisen 

 the innumerable hosts seen in Heligoland within the last decades. 

 The further migratory movements of this species will be treated 

 of under its proper place in the middle part of this work. 



In conclusion, we would mention the case of the Brambling. 

 The nesting quarters of this bird lie in the northern part of Scan- 

 dinavia, where they breed in great numbers, passing in autumn 

 southward into the southern parts of the country. Here they 

 evidently turn to the west, and fly across the North Sea, for they 

 arrive in large flocks on the east coast of Scotland (Migration 

 Reports). On the Orkneys and Shetlands, on the other hand, they 

 occur far less numerously, which proves that on setting out from 

 their nesting haunts they do not at once travel in a south-western 

 direction, for in that case the main stream of migration would 

 arrive on the above-named islands. Enormous numbers of these 

 birds congregate in the interior of Scotland, and on the west 

 coast, whence they continue their journey southwards; large 

 numbers winter in Spain, and in exceptional cases even cross 

 the Straits of Gibraltar. 



During the autumn months countless droves of land-birds, 

 both the larger and smaller species, as well as of Ducks, Geese, 

 Swans, and other water-birds, may be seen on the coast and interior 

 parts of the west of Scotland. All these are hastening to their 

 winter quarters on a southerly or south-south-easterly course; 

 These droves consist, in part, of birds which, like the Brambling, 

 after arriving on the east coast, have traversed the country in a 

 westerly direction, partly of birds resident on the mainland of Scot- 

 land, and partly of such whose breeding homes are in the Hebrides, 

 and on the other islands of Scotland, situated nearer to the main- 



