THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 367 



such birds, according to direct observations, not only arriving by 

 an east-to-west line of flight, but having almost all been observed 

 or killed on the eastern coast districts of the country. 



From the comparatively small number met with in the east of 

 England it appears that the hundreds of thousands which continue 

 their autumn journey from Heligoland westwards cannot have their 

 winter quarters in the former country, but must continue their 

 journey at a high elevation. Since, however, they do not reach 

 the west of England only two individuals being recorded as having 

 occurred there in 1879 by Rodd, at the close of many years of 

 observation (Birds of Cornwall and Scilly) and have not been met 

 with by Thompson in Ireland, one must suppose that they turn 

 south in the central parts of the country, and travel across to France 

 and Spain, possibly passing the winter months in the central 

 mountain regions of these countries. That they continue their 

 journey to Africa is perhaps a somewhat venturesome assumption. 



The Shore Larks have appeared here in increasing numbers also 

 during the spring migrations of recent years, these numbers reach- 

 ing an almost astonishing proportion in April and May of 1884. 

 Not only may this phenomenon be intimately connected with the 

 increasing number of breeding birds at their most western breeding 

 stations, Finmark and Lapland, but it may also bring the question 

 of their winter quarters nearer to a solution. From the fact that 

 all the species from the far east and north-east which so frequently 

 occur in Heligoland during the autumn hardly ever touch on the 

 island again in the spring, we concluded, in the chapter on the 

 Direction of the Migration Flight, that all birds which endeavour 

 to reach winter quarters in latitudes farther south by making 

 temporary southward deflections from the normal westerly course 

 of their autumn migration, in the spring, when migration proceeds 

 at much greater haste, try to return from these lower lying points 

 to their breeding homes in a direct line i.e. along the hypotenuse 

 of the angle formed by the lines of flight pursued in the autumn 

 migration. A line having for its terminal points Finmark and 

 Lapland, with Heligoland lying in its middle, would have its com- 

 mencement in Spain and western France, in which latter countries 

 we may accordingly with safety look forward to finding the winter 

 quarters of the Shore Lark. That hitherto we have not succeeded 

 in discovering them is probably only due to the want of sufficient 

 exploration of these countries during all the months of the year. 



On account of its pleasing appearance I have kept one of these 

 birds for years in a cage. The song, though by no means loud, is 

 nevertheless agreeably lark-like ; its call-note, with which it cheer- 

 fully greets me as soon as it hears my step, two large rooms off, is 



