224 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



dependent on warm and calm weather than that of any other 

 species. Solitary examples are rarely seen here before the middle 

 of May, the 19th and 20th of that month being, according to 

 repeated entries in my journal, the usual dates of its arrival. The 

 migration continues until about the middle of June, and the birds 

 begin to leave again as early as July. M. luctuosa occurs here as 

 early as April, and again on its return passage in large numbers as 

 late as September ; but M. grisola has never been observed either 

 so early or so late in its two migration seasons. 



This species never appears in very large numbers here. I hardly 

 ever see more than twenty or thirty examples in the course of one 

 day in my garden, which seems to be a favourite resort of these 

 birds. This garden consists of a fairly large and open piece of 

 ground, surrounded on all sides by thorns, which are from fifteen 

 to twenty feet high, and also by elders and willows ; and the birds 

 like to perch on the tips of the dry branches, whence in calm, sun- 

 shiny weather, they prosecute their chase after flying insects. The 

 Pied Flycatcher, on the other hand, displays a real passion for the 

 twig ends of flowering pot-plants, or the handle of a spade sticking 

 in the ground, etc. 



This bird is distributed as a breeding species over the whole of 

 Europe and Asia. 



58. Bed-breasted Flycatcher [KLEINER FLIEGENFANGER]. 

 MUSCICAPA PARVA, Bechstein. 



Heligolandish : Liitj Beskuts = Small Flycatcher. 



Muscicapa parva. Naumann, xiii. 247. 



Bed-breasted Flycatcher. Dresser, iii. 465. 



Gobe-mouche rougedtre. Temminck, Manuel, i. 158, iii. 85. 



This is the smallest species of the genus, and is further distin- 

 guished by the pure white coloration of the basal half of its tail. 

 Formerly, isolated examples of this bird were seen here almost 

 every autumn; in some years also in larger numbers, as, for instance, 

 during the first two days of October 1869, when five examples were 

 seen ; while, in the course of October 1870, fourteen birds were 

 observed, of which nine were shot. 



Since that time, the instances of its occurrence on the island have 

 been few. In 1875, three examples were observed ; also one in 1877, 

 and another in 1880 ; whilst, for the last seven years, the bird has 

 not been seen at all. It is difficult to assign a cause for this total 

 absence, though undoubtedly, as in many similar cases, atmospheric 

 influences have been at work. These, however, must have been of 



