6 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



may be passed over as belonging to one of the common species, 

 for it must not be forgotten that the migrants do not have to 

 undergo so close a scrutiny here as is the case on Heligoland, 

 where every man is a birdcatcher, and will at once recognize a 

 new or unrecorded species to that island. 



It is somewhat strange that the Siberian Meadow Bunting, 

 Emberiza cioides, which is one of the recent additions to our 

 British avifauna, has not yet been recorded from Heligoland. On 

 the other hand, the following species of Asiatic Buntings have 

 occurred on Heligoland, but have not yet been noticed in Great 

 Britain, viz. the Yellow-breasted Bunting, E. aureola, Pall.; the 

 Pine Bunting, E. leucocephala, Gmel. ; Cretzschmar's Bunting, 

 E. ccEsia, Cretz., any of which may be looked for here ; and 

 Strickland's Bunting, E. cinerea, Strickl., is stated to have been 

 seen, but not obtained on Heligoland. 



There are many instances of the gradual extension westward 

 of Asiatic birds, as, for instance, that of the Shore Lark, Otocorys 

 alpestris (Lin.), which a century ago was but an occasional and 

 rare visitant to Europe proper, and was not known to breed in 

 Scandinavia until about 1835 ; whereas now it breeds commonly in 

 Lapland, and is frequently met with in considerable numbers 

 during the seasons of migration as far west as the British 

 Islands; and, according to Mr. Gatke, hundreds of thousands 

 pass Heligoland each autumn. Again, we have the case of the 

 Scarlet Grosbeak, Carpodacus erythrinus (Pall.), which in 185G, 

 when, as a lad, I first visited Finland, was but a rare species; and 

 I well recollect my delight in finding that it had nested in the 

 Botanical Gardens at Helsingfors. Now, however, it is quite a 

 common species in some parts of Finland, and nests regularly 

 near Helsingfors. 



To return, however, to Pallas's Willow Warbler. This 

 interesting little bird was first described in 1811 by Pallas 

 (Zoogr. Koss. As. i. p. 199), but Gould figured and redescribed 

 it in 1837 (B. of Europe, ii. pi. 149), and gave it the name of 

 Dalmatian Regulus, Hegidus modestus. Subsequent writers have to 

 a large extent confused the Yellow- browed Warbler and Pallas's 

 Willow Warbler, and the first specimen of the Yellow-browed 

 Warbler obtained in Great Britain was recorded under the name 

 of Rcgulus modestus, Gould. 



