264 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



the manner of a Nightingale, a few paces in front of him, but he 

 was unfortunately unable to get possession of it. There e'xists not 

 the least doubt as to the identity of the latter species ; on a skin 

 from Greece being shown him, Aeuckens at once declared it most 

 decisively to belong to the very same species. This is further cor- 

 roborated by the time of its occurrence on a May morning, and 

 under meteorological conditions most favourable to the appearance 

 of south-eastern strangers. 



The nesting stations of this species extend from Greece through 

 Asia Minor, Syria, Turkestan, and Persia to central India. A 

 variety breeding in south-western Europe, distinguished from the 

 present species by the somewhat more pronounced ferruginous 

 colouring of its upper parts, has been established as an independent 

 species under the name of Sylvia galactodes. This western form 

 has been twice shot in England, the birds being undoubtedly 

 individuals that had resumed their spring migration, after having 

 lost their mates at the beginning of the breeding season, and thus, 

 by following a line of flight in a northward direction, had reached 

 Great Britain via Spain. This subject has been discussed more 

 fully in the section on Migration and in other portions of this work. 



87. Bed-spotted Bluethroat [NOHDISCHES BLAUKEHLCHEN]. 

 SYLVIA SUECICA, Linn. 1 



Heligolandish : Blu-Hemmel-Fink = .B/e Skybird. 



Sylvia (Cyanecula) suecica. Nauiuann, xiii. 387 ; Blasius, Nachtrdge, 59. 



Bed-spotted Bluethroat. Dresser, ii. 317. 



Bee-fin gorge bleue. Temminck, Manuel, iii. 143. 



One would hardly believe that the home of so lovely a creature 

 as the Bluethroat extended so far north as the coast of the Polar 

 Sea, particularly as its beautiful azure blue and rusty orange dress 

 gives one the impression of its being a native of tropical latitudes. 

 As a matter of fact, its life is divided between its Arctic nesting 

 stations and its winter quarters, which extend to the hot regions of 

 central Africa and southern Asia. 



The migratory flights of this little bird between regions so 

 widely separated have furnished the most interesting material 

 towards a final solution of a hitherto open question, viz. What is 

 the greatest speed attainable by a bird during its migration flight ? 

 and have yielded the astounding result of one hundred and eighty 

 geographical miles per hour. In regard to this inquiry also, as in 



1 Cyanecula suecica (Linn.). 



