3.36 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



Isle of Arran. From its source, three thousand feet above, a 

 mountain rivulet was hastening to the sea in manifold windings, 

 and with many leaps and tumbles, contracted in one place into 

 narrow channels bubbling over with light foam, widened in 

 another part, forming crystal-clear shady pools, rich in salmon. 

 Throughout the bed of the stream and along its banks were 

 scattered fragments of rock, overgrown with moss, and covered 

 with a profusion of the most lovely ferns, varying in size from 

 a span's length to a man's height, and surpassing each other 

 in freshness and beauty, and in the graceful shape and bend- 

 ings of their fronds. This scene, in which patches of deep scent- 

 laden shadow alternated with bands of brilliant sunlight, was 

 enlivened by the busy doings of a family of Grey Wagtails, consist- 

 ing of the parents and five young ones. At one instant a bird 

 might be seen running over some broad slab of rock in hasty pursuit 

 of an insect ; at another, chasing one for a short distance in rapid 

 flight ; here one would settle for a moment on a bit of rock lying 

 hi the bed of the stream, only to quit it immediately for some spot 

 by the edge, from which the water had for the moment receded. 

 Now and again one or another of the birds would stop for an 

 instant to cast a searching glance at the silent stranger who was 

 watching its movements, but, without further heeding his presence, 

 would immediately return to its former occupations. 



For an hour I gave myself up to the enjoyment of this fascinat- 

 ing insight into the silent workings of nature the little creatures 

 sometimes approaching to within a few paces from my feet, and 

 subsequently retiring again to some distance. I seized upon one 

 of these latter moments for withdrawing, without disturbing these 

 trustful little beings. It needed, however, a powerful effort to turn 

 away from this charming scene, which even now, after thirty years, 

 is as fresh before my eyes as if I had just left it ; whilst the roar 

 and rush of Knockan Burn seems still to linger in my ears. 



This bird is an extremely rare visitor to Heligoland, occurring 

 perhaps once at intervals of five years ; old birds being more fre- 

 quent than young ones, and always appearing early in the year 

 somewhere about the first half of March. This rare occurrence is 

 explicable from the distribution of the breeding stations of this 

 species, Avhich, although they extend from Portugal through 

 central and southern Europe and Asia to Japan, do not stretch 

 beyond the northern boundaries of Germany. Scattered indivi- 

 duals are also found nesting in Great Britain, especially in Ireland 

 and the west of Scotland, owing to the moderating influence of the 

 Gulf Stream. 



