Heligoland

“ Heligoland is only one mile long from pier to Nordkap, and a quarter of a mile wide at its widest—in all it is three-quarters of a square mile in size. There are no horses or carts in Heligoland—only six cows, kept always in darkness, and a few sheep and goats tethered on the Oberland. The streets are very narrow, but very clean, and the constant repetition in houses and scarves and flags of the national colors gives Heligoland a gay aspect; for the national colors are anything but dull.
Green land, red rocks, white strand—nothing could be better descriptive of the island than these colors. ”

“ When the summit is reached, one stands upon the real island, for the sand-bank below is an accident and an intruder. Heligoland proper may be described as a precipice-plateau, containing a small cluster of houses, a lighthouse, various pole-nets, springes, and other contrivances for catching woodcocks in their migratory flights, and a few miniature potato and corn fields. ”

“ That eminent Statesman only began with Heligoland; steamed later into the Pacific Seas, and moved reduction of salary of Deputy Commissioner of the Western Pacific. Wants Heligoland given up.
"Certainly not," said Nicholas Wood; "must take firm stand with these Separatists. Not quite sure in what part of Ireland Heligoland is situated. Sounds like Munster; must look it up on map. Meanwhile shall support Balfour."
Whilst Nicholas off in library, vainly looking over map of Ireland, Sage of Queen Anne's Gate backs up Campbell. Knows Heligoland intimately. ”

“ Helicon, a mountain in Boeotia, Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses; famous for the fountains on its slopes dedicated to the latter.
Heligoland (2, but rising to 14 in summer) , an islet of the North Sea, 35 m. from the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser; German since 1890; consists of the Oberland, a plateau, with some 400 houses, and the Unterland on the shore, 206 ft. beneath, with a group of 70 dwellings. In the summer it is crowded with visitors, bathing being the chief attraction; fishing is the staple industry of the native Frisians. ”

“ To-day, where the twelve-bores of the sportsmen used to bowl over harmless rabbits, enormous Krupp guns, on disappearing mountings, are cunningly concealed in strongly protected pits, for Sandy Island—now known as Sandinsel—has been artificially increased until it is nearly twice as large in extent as Heligoland itself. ”

“ A German Heligoland fortified, equipped with airship sheds and long-distance wireless, a shelter for submarines, was to the new German Navy only second in value to the Kiel Canal. Islands do not “command” anything beyond range of their guns, especially when they have no harbours; but Heligoland, though it in no sense commanded the approach to the German bases, was an invaluable outpost and observation station. It is a little island of crumbling red rock, preserved only by man’s labour from vanishing into the sea ”

“ Migration as observed on that island for many years points to the undoubted fact that the line followed by birds is, as a rule, from E. to W., and doubtless some portion of these Heligoland birds keep moving westward or south-westward, till eventually they strike our east coast. There are, however, many species which make Heligoland the western boundary of their autumn wanderings, and crossing, as they do, that island in enormous numbers, must eventually follow the coast-line to the south, for the simple reason that they never occur on our own coast, except as very rare or occasional wanderers ”

“ The high strategical importance of Heligoland is self-evident. Its position, some thirty-five miles from the mainland, is that of a strong outpost, defending the estuaries of the Elbe and Weser. A flotilla of destroyers or submarines based on the island could make things very uncomfortable for a fleet endeavouring to blockade the German coast, and it was the recognition of this fact which led to the construction of the new torpedo harbour. ”

“ They are easily brought out in domestic architecture, for with a whitewashed cottage and a red-tiled roof the Heligolander has only to give his door and window-shutters a coat of bright green paint, and there are the colors of Heligoland. In case the unforgettable fact should escape the tourist, the government have worked the colors into the ingenious and pretty island postage-stamp, and many of our German friends wear bathing-pants of the same unobtrusive tints.
Life is a very delightful thing in summer in this island. ”

“ The Corn Bunting is always a very scarce migrant across Heligoland.
E. citrinella, Yellowhammer.—Heligoland, Oct. 12th, some; and a few at intervals to the 25th.
E. hortulana, Ortolan Bunting.—Cley, Norfolk, Sept. 12th, E. to N., one, an immature female, shot by Mr. F. D. Power. Heligoland, a very large migration, commencing August 16th, and continued to Sept. 19th; rushes on August 18th to 23rd and the 31st; Sept. 3rd, "a few fine old males"; 4th, great many, all in great haste, and on the 5th again old birds; Sept. 10th to 15th, enormous numbers, and then less to the 19th. ”

“ Presently Stirling returned with a fresh supply of steak. Once more the stove was lighted, and without further mishap the meat was served.
"Can't help thinking about those fellows who were collared at Heligoland," remarked Stirling.
"Don't see why you need worry about them," said Smith. "I wonder you don't suggest that they are our friends Hamerton & Co. in disguise. Anyhow, they took the risk and failed. Spying is a rotten game, when all's said and done." ”

“ They were now within a hundred yards or so of Sathurn, the northernmost part of Heligoland, that terminates in a sheer cliff one hundred and sixty-six feet in height. Close to the point rises a detached pinnacle of rock, known as Hengst, its summit being only three feet lower than that of Sathurn.
"You stop here," whispered Hamerton. "The sentries seem as thick as flies. I'm going to crawl a few yards. One may escape detection where two will not."
With this injunction the Sub left his companion, and on all-fours made his way towards the extremity of the cliff. ”

“ Is it not perfectly evident that the geographical position of Heligoland makes it a convenient resting place for large numbers of migrants, for it is certainly true that large numbers are observed there, which pass southward and westward along the Baltic, crossing Sehleswig-Holstein and the mouth of the Elbe, or coast south along Denmark, and cross the Elbe diagonally, en route for the Dutch and French coasts and to a lesser extent the south-east coasts of Britain? ”

“ The thickening fog-banks which shut off our view of Heligoland were not long in thinning the guiding Regensburg to a dusky phantom nosing uncertainly into the misty smother in the direction of where our charts indicated the Bight should be narrowing to the shallow waters of Jade Bay, in an inner corner of which lay Wilhelmshaven. We had counted on getting there that evening, and [20] a wireless had already been received saying that a German Naval Commission was standing by to come off for a preliminary conference. ”

“ The most interesting of all the stations from which returns have been sent is the small rocky island of Heligoland, situated in the North Sea, about forty miles from the mouth of the Elbe. Here the tired wing of many a feathered wanderer finds a resting-place. ”

“ Naturally enough, since there is constant need to travel between the two "Towns," this stair is a prominent feature in Heligoland existence. It is the test alike of youthful vigour and of failing strength.
The island children cannot conceive of a country without a stair, and the lads of the colony—like boys all the world over—often adopt the dangerous practice of accomplishing the descent by sliding down the balusters, a pastime that is sometimes indulged in by people of maturer years. The flat-topped rock is occupied by a lighthouse, a battery, a powder magazine, and pasture for 200 sheep. ”

“ Suddenly the wind grew high and the sea swelled, and they were fain to take in their topsails; the ship rolled and tossed sufficiently to make the younger seamen sick, and all fearful.
From this place they might see an island on the starboard side of them, called Heligoland, standing a great way into the sea, twelve leagues from Rose Beacon; the island is about six miles in compass. The inhabitants have a language, habit, and laws, different from their neighbours, and are said to have many witches among them; their shores are found very dangerous, and many ships wrecked upon them. ”

“ On clear moonlight nights nothing at all is caught or found.
† According to Mr. Antander were not sent to museum.
Mr. Gätke sends the following notes of an extraordinary migration of the Silver Gamma Moth, Plusia gamma, across Heligoland in August, 1882:—
On Aug. 13th, at 1 a.m. till 4, thousands on thousands passed the Heligoland lighthouse, travelling E. to W. From 11 p.m. on the 15th, till 3 a.m. on 16th, millions, like a snow-storm, all belonging to the same species, passed forward in the same direction. Again, on the 18th, from 11 p.m. till 3 a.m. ”

“ Heligoland, Oct. 7th, pretty numerous; 13th, all day with Chaffinches; and numerous first week in November.
Linota cannabina, Linnet. Spring, Newarp L.V., April 13th, all day to E. Autumn, Whitby L.H., Aug, 8th, great many to south. [17] Heligoland, Sept. 30th to Nov. 11th; rush on Oct. 13th.
[17] Linnets, Twites, and Redpoles work their way south along the coast; those flocks also which cross the North Sea, after striking land, follow the same route to the south. They often collect in immense quantities in favourite localities, feeding on the seeds of salt-loving plants along the coast. ”

“ It's not any too good a prospect for a look-see at Heligoland, for our course hardly takes us within three miles of it at the nearest."
It was in a fog that the Hercules had dropped down through the moored lines of the Grand Fleet the previous morning, it was in a fog that she had felt her way out of the Firth of Forth and by devious mine-swept channels to the North Sea, and it was still in a fog that she—the first surface warship of the Allies to penetrate deeply into them since the Battle of the Bight, not long after the outbreak of the war—was approaching German [2] waters. ”

“ During the breeding season the species is "abundant in Asia Minor, all through the Caucasus" mountains, but it rarely extends westward or northward of the peninsula of Italy; while during the autumnal migration its flight is directed eastward to India, which forms its winter quarters. It is enough to excite one's wonder that individuals should be found in this country (and the same may be said of Heligoland) in November, separated as they then are from their rightful home by almost the whole length of Europe and half that of Asia. ”

“ Whatever comes to Heligoland comes from over the sea; there is no railway within many a wide mile; the people are a peculiar people, with their own peculiar language, and an island patriotism which it would be hard to match.... ”

“ At Heligoland this year there have been no young Starlings during July; Mr. Gätke says he may perhaps have seen a hundred, and this is all.
[13] This bears out Mr. Gätke's observation in a letter dated Heligoland, 1879, when he says, "Hundreds of thousands of young Starlings from end of June to end of July. Hundreds of thousands of old birds during October, November, and later; young and old strictly divided in their migrations."
Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix; Rook, C. frugilegus; Daw, C. monedula.—The migration of Rooks is not noted on the English coast north of the Humber ”

“ It is very possible that one or more have visited our island and have been overlooked, as at the first glance they 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. ”

“ During migration-time the inhabitants used to set nets from house to house in the street of Heligoland to trap them, and probably do so now.
‘As soon as they have recovered strength enough after landing they disperse, and take up their quarters generally in the neighbourhood of springs and soft boggy grounds, but there is no dependence to be placed on their movements. A dozen may be seen in one covert to-day, while to-morrow not a single bird can be found in the whole district. ”

“ In a southeasterly direction and some ninety miles away was the Belgian coast, with the German submarine and seaplane bases at Zeebrugge and Ostend. Some hundred and eighty miles away, in a north-easterly direction, was Terschelling Island, and just around the corner of this island was the Bight of Heligoland. ”

“ Some are unwilling slaves—i. e., they get mixed up in the big flights of true migratory birds, and are irresistibly hurried along with them; such are the rooks, starlings, robins, etc., which are so frequently seen in Heligoland in the midst of a flock of swallows, warblers, and other genuine migrants. Another lot of these partial migrants are those which, perhaps, most justly deserve this name ”

“ Gätke, hundreds of thousands pass Heligoland each autumn. Again, we have the case of the Scarlet Grosbeak, Carpodacus erythrinus (Pall.) , which in 1856, 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. ”