NOTES AND QUERIES. 455 



for ! Petrels seldom live more than a few days if captured alive, and it is 

 therefore unreasonable to suppose that this bird could have been brought 

 into British waters by human agency, and then contrived to make its escape. 

 On Mr. Willis Bund's behalf I had the pleasure of exhibiting it at a 

 meeting of the Linnean Society on November 6th, when, needless to say, 

 it caused considerable wonderment amongst the ornithologists who were 

 present. A description of the species will be found in ' The Zoologist,' as 

 above mentioned, and some idea of its appearance, though not of its 

 coloration, will be afforded by a glance at the coloured plate of its congener, 

 (Estrelata hcesitata, which is given in the third volume of Stevenson's 

 ' Birds of Norfolk,' edited and recently published by Mr. Thomas Southwell, 

 — a volume which I do not doubt will be hailed by the readers of this 

 journal with considerable satisfaction. Suffice it to say that the bird is 

 about the size of Larus minatus, of a smoke-grey colour above and below, 

 with a white face and throat, and an irregular white collar which suggested 

 to its original describer the specific name torquata. — J. E. Harting. 



The Ornithology of Heligoland.— It is the mark of most Englishmen 

 to desire to become tolerably acquainted with the animal life, to use a con- 

 venient but inaccurate phrase, of the countries which they may chance to 

 visit. They may not care for the scientific classification of the lower 

 animals, but they are undeniably fond of observing their habits. Now, in 

 one department of Natural History, the little island we have at this 

 moment in view presents a record which, in all probability, can nowhere 

 else be approached within measurable distance. This is the Migration of 

 Birds. Herr Gatke, the Government Secretary, has a collection of speci- 

 mens, all killed upon the island, which is nothing short of astounding when 

 considered in connection with the extremely limited area at his command. 

 According to Mr. Henry Seebohm, an excellent judge, and himself the 

 author of an admirable * History of British Birds,' "one of the most valuable 

 contributions to our knowledge of Ornithology that has ever been published 

 is a digest of Gatke's observations for the year 1885 ." Other places, such 

 as Malta and Gibraltar, are well situated for observing what are technically 

 called the " fly-lines " of various birds. But no one as yet appears to have 

 had the leisure or the inclination to carry out a series of systematic records 

 of them, which should serve as data upon which all ornithologists might 

 confidently rely. Perhaps neither Malta nor Gibraltar is climatically 

 adapted for a lengthened course of observation at all hours and seasons, 

 whereas Heligoland is, beyond all question, delightfully compact, never too 

 hot, and rarely too cold, for manoeuvres sab dio. It is impossible to tire 

 oneself in surveying an area which barely touches two hundred acres, and 

 yet one has to keep on the qui vlve not only with a view to genera and 

 species, but also to avoid taking the necessary three steps which would 

 involve walking overboard. Despite these unusual facilities, however, it is 



