270 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



of from five to ten years, and in solitary instances, so that duriog 

 the last fifty years only eight, or at most ten, of these birds have 

 been shot on the island. The one very remarkable exception 

 occurred in the spring of 1877, in which, on the 5th of April, from 

 ten to twelve of these birds were observed here ; again several on 

 the 6th, and several others on the 9th ; all the birds were handsome 

 males, and nearly all were captured. Since that time I have only 

 once again obtained this species here, viz., on the 17th of May 

 1879 ; and have only once shot a female bird, whose early ap- 

 pearance might allow one to conclude with safety as to its belonging 

 to the white- spotted form. 



All the earlier birds, or those met with on the last occasion of 

 the occurrence of the species, were males, for the most part fine 

 old birds, with a large white spot on the upper breast. In some 

 few individuals, however, this spot was so small that it was almost 

 indeed, in one example, completely hidden by the blue; but 

 even in this instance, on raising the feathers, a small shiny white 

 spot of the size of a No. 4 shot became visible. Judging from the 

 rest of their coloration and markings, however, all these birds 

 were very old examples. 



In almost all works on this subject, central and western Europe 

 as far south as Portugal is given as the breeding area of this Blue- 

 throat, Germany and Holland being noted as the parts in which it is 

 met with in greatest numbers. Blichner ( Vogel des St. Petersburger 

 Gouvernements, 1886), on the other hand, not only mentions the 

 neighbourhood of St. Petersburg as an additional nesting station 

 for this bird, but also states that it is caught in ' very large numbers ' 

 in that locality at the end of April and beginning of May. It is, 

 however, hardly probable that the nesting stations of this bird 

 extend beyond the northern limit of the St. Petersburg district, 

 and hence arises the question : Whither do the birds which occur 

 there so numerously during the spring migration direct their 

 course ? There is little doubt that they do so towards the east, in 

 which direction the numerous water-courses, originating in the 

 western slopes of the Ural, provide in abundance localities suitable 

 as nesting stations. Hence we may assume that the breeding 

 range of this Bluethroat includes the whole of central and southern 

 Europe, from western Portugal to the Ural Mountains. 



