BIRDS AT THE LIGHTHOUSE 203 



I should find the island swarming with birds. Accord- 

 ingly I turned in soon after ten. At half-past twelve I 

 was awoke with the news that the migration had already 

 begun. Hastily dressing myself, 1 at once made for the 

 lighthouse. As I crossed the potato-fields birds were 

 continually getting up at my feet. Arrived at the light- 

 house, an intensely interesting sight presented itself. 



HELIGOLAND 



The whole of the zone of light within range of the 

 mirrors was alive with birds coming and going. Nothing 

 else was visible in the darkness of the night, but the 

 lantern of the lighthouse vignetted in a drifting sea of 

 birds. From the darkness in the east, clouds of birds 

 were continually emerging in an uninterrupted stream ; a 

 few swerved from their course, fluttered for a moment as 

 if dazzled by the light, and then gradually vanished with 

 the rest in the western gloom. Occasionally a bird 

 wheeled round the lighthouse and then passed on, and 



