226 THE BIEDS OF HELIGOLAND 



their winter stations, so that now they leave Heligoland lying on 

 the left and to the north of their route of passage. 



The call-note of this species, which is said by Naumann and 

 Russow to resemble the sound ' fiiid-fuid,' has never been heard in 

 Heligoland ; instead thereof a peculiar, somewhat protracted chirp, 

 sounding remarkably like the faint call of the Missel Thrush when 

 heard from a distance, has been remarked here, and, indeed, has in 

 many cases announced the presence of the bird before it has been 

 actually seen. Dr. A. Walter, who observed the bird in great 

 numbers in the forests of Livonia, describes the call as a rattling 

 sound. In its whole demeanour and action this bird is a miniature 

 repetition of its near relative, the Pied Flycatcher. 



Strange to say, the first example of this species which I secured 

 had thirteen tail feathers, whence I naturally concluded that the 

 normal number was fourteen. This specimen has, I believe, passed 

 into the possession of Herr von Zittwitz. 



The breeding range of this species extends from Germany east- 

 wards to Hungary, whence it passes northwards to Esthonia, 

 Livonia, and Courland, and, according to Seebohm, within the same 

 parallels of latitude as far as Kamtschatka. 



Waxwing Ampelis. The genus of these handsomely-coloured 

 and prettily-marked birds comprises only three species. Of these 

 A. cedrorum is a native of North America; A. phcsnicopterus 

 belongs to Japan, and the third, A. garrulus, inhabits all the 

 northern parts of the Old and New Worlds, and the latter is the 

 only species which has hitherto appeared in Heligoland. 



59. Waxwing [SEIDENSCHWANZ]. 

 AMPELIS GARRULUS, Linn. 



Heligolandish : Siedens\venske = Silk-Tail. 



Bombicilla garrula. Nauraann, ii. 143 ; xiii. Blasius, Nachtrdge, 45. 



Waxwing. Dresser, iiL 429. 



Grand Jaseur. Temminck, Manuel, i. 124, iii. 71. 



This species seems everywhere, even where it is found as a 

 breeding bird, to occur only sporadically, and this is most par- 

 ticularly the case in Heligoland. 



During the autumn months of the year 1847 an extraordinary 

 powerful migration of eastern species took place, and among these 

 appeared, from the middle to the end of September, also some twenty 



