Mr. H. Durnford on North-Frisian Ornithology. 405 
other birds may cease to visit the islands, such as Strepsilas and 
Anser ; but he was not sure whether the latter was breeding. 
It is obvious that many species have decreased in numbers ; 
and the making and enforcing of protection laws, however 
inconvenient to the collector, must meet the approval of all 
real ornithologists. In Rafn's time between three hundred 
and four hundred eggs of Sterna caspia were laid ; the state 
of things is very different now, as my previous remarks show. 
On the other hand he states that ten thousand eggs of Larus 
argentatus were yearly gathered from the dunes, while the 
farmer who owns the northern portion of Sylt assured us 
that some years ago from forty to fifty thousand eggs were 
taken during the season. It is difficult to reconcile these 
apparently conflicting statements; but it is possible the pre¬ 
sent owner of the soil was not in possession of it till after 
1857, and doubtless the birds increased yearly in numbers 
under his protective hand. At the present day, I can state 
decidedly that, taking into consideration the fact of the eggs 
being continually gathered by the natives, forty thousand 
would be a much more correct estimate of the number laid 
during the season than ten thousand; and I think it very 
probable Rafn was in error in his statement. It must be 
borne in mind that we did not visit the southern portion 
of Sylt, we had only time to cursorily examine the northern 
half of the island ; and as that portion entirely consists of 
dry sandhills, we probably did not lose any thing by not 
doing so. 
Mr. John Baker, of Cambridge, who visited these islands in 
1861, informs me that he found Alauda brachydactyla and 
Emberiza hortulana there, though both were rare. I may 
remark that the first is not included in Kjserbolling's work, 
f Danmark's Fugle,' nor as belonging to the North-German 
district by Borggreve in his ‘ Vogel-Fauna von Norddeutsch- 
land' (p. 70). I should therefore imagine Mr. Baker to be 
in error in this case. He also met with Limosa cegocephala 
commonly, which is indeed very likely. 
Before concluding these remarks, it affords me great plea¬ 
sure to express my indebtedness to Professor Newton, who, 
