386 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



make friends with it, and one generally ends by once more giving 

 the peevish fellow his liberty. 



The Lapland Bunting, on the other hand, ceases fluttering after 

 one or two weeks' confinement if one keeps renewing its food, and 

 soon becomes so tame that it will take flies from the finger. It 

 also invariably accomplishes its autumn moult to perfection, and in 

 a very short time. 



In the breeding plumage this bird, like other species from the 

 Far North, is of extremely rare occurrence here. In fact, I have 

 only once obtained it in the perfectly pure dress of summer. 



Like the preceding species, the Lapland Bunting breeds within 

 the whole Arctic Circle, but does not advance so far north as the 

 Snow Bunting. 



186. Bobolink [WANDERNDER EEISVOGEL]. 

 DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORA, Linn. 1 



Wandering Rice-Bird. Audubon, Syn. of Birds of North America, p. 138. 



An old male of this species has been twice shot here during the 

 summer months, and in each instance the bird was brought to me 

 in its fresh condition. One of these examples has the tail and the 

 tips of its wings much worn, but the plumage in other respects is 

 quite perfect, and does not give the bird the appearance of having 

 been kept in confinement. The second specimen was perfect in 

 all its parts, and had certainly never been in a cage. 



This species is perhaps best placed here after the Buntings ; for, 

 although it cannot actually be described as one of this family, the 

 females and young autumn birds very closely resemble, especially in 

 general external appearance, the phases of plumage belonging to 

 similar ages of the large Yellow Buntings, Euspiza, and especially 

 E. luteola. 



The home of this bird extends over, and is exclusively confined 

 to, the United States of America. Apart from the two examples cited, 

 the bird has hitherto not occurred on this side of the Atlantic. 



Finch Fringilla. This genus comprises about a hundred 

 species, all rich in individuals, inhabiting almost the whole of the 

 globe with the exception of Australia. Despite this wide range 

 in distribution of the genus, its representatives in Heligoland are 

 amongst the least interesting of the feathered visitors of that 

 island, for, with the exception of isolated occurrences of Fringilla 

 nivalis, F. hornemanni and F. exilipes, the seventeen species which 

 the island can show are all common European names. 



1 Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Linn.). 



