THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 439 



About thirty or forty specimens were shot : the smallncss of this 

 number is partly accounted for by the habit of these birds of lying 

 closely squatted on the ground, and also by the close similarity of 

 the plumage of their back with the soil, particularly when the latter 

 is of a reddish-brown colour like that of Heligoland ; there is no 

 doubt that if one had been able to hunt these birds with a pointer, 

 fifty or more of them could have been taken in one day. Of the 

 examples killed here in 1863, thirteen passed into the possession of 

 my revered friend, the late Professor Blasius. Pastor Zander 

 received two, and others were sent by Aeuckens to all parts of the 

 world. 



The first examples in 1863 were shot on the dune on the 

 21st of May : until the end of the month, and throughout the whole 

 of June, the birds were observed frequently ; later, however, occa- 

 sionally and in small companies : on the 15th of November some 

 seven or nine individuals were seen, and a solitary female was 

 shot as late as the 30th of December. 



Since this great invasion a few of these birds have been seen 

 here on one or two other occasions e.g. in 1872, in which year 

 several examples were also observed in England. Again, on the 

 12th of May 1876, two examples were seen at the dune, and from 

 eight to ten were noticed flying over the sea. On the following 

 day, May 13th, a fresh example was found dead at the foot of 

 the cliff. One example was seen on the 15th, and another on the 

 16th; and on the 23rd July three birds, a male and two females, 

 flew over the sea, out of shooting range, past Jan Aeuckens' boat. 

 It is probable that another small migration occurred during that 

 year, for on the 4th of May one of these birds was killed near 

 Modena, in Italy; and on the 4th of October two examples, a 

 male and a female, were shot in Ireland. 



I have only heard the call-note of this bird when it was on the 

 wing. It resembles the sound ' Kiitt kiltt kiitt,' ejaculated in a 

 rapid jerky manner. When noticed, the birds are not at all shy. 

 In one particular instance five or six of them ran about within a 

 distance of from twenty to thirty paces of a man who was digging 

 up his potato-plot, and who looked at them at his leisure in the 

 pauses betAveen his work. In another instance, five of the birds 

 remained for two hours squatted flat against the ground at a 

 distance of about thirty paces from the three brothers Aeuckens (!) 

 who were tarring one of the beacons belonging to the island, during 

 which occupation they were talking in a loud voice, shouting to 

 each other, and handing a long ladder about. The birds did not 

 fly away until the brothers, having finished their work, approached 

 them to within a few paces. 



