1896
Gätke's Birds of Heligoland.—No work since the days of Audubon
has come to my notice which has interested me to the same extent as
this wonderfully instructive book. One reason for this is that the
knowledge I have acquired regarding some of our birds has been gleaned
during my long experience as a sportsman on the Atlantic seaboard. (It
is now many years since I learned that the most successful way of secur-
ing birds is through a knowledge of their habits.) I cannot therefore
fail to recognize and appreciate how dwarfed become the observations of
the ordinary observer in comparison with the life work of Mr. Gätke,
who has for half a century so patiently gathered the facts he now sets
before the ornithologists of both continents. It seems impossible to
read Gätke's book without being impressed with the importance of his
many years of painstaking research, and his originality and boldness of
thought. As Dr. Coues has rightly written in his review of this book in
the last number of 'The Auk' (Vol. XII, p. 322), 1895: "There is no
Heligoland but Heligoland, and Gätke is its prophet." It is nevertheless
equally true that all of the statements contained in this work cannot be
accepted as facts, as far as they relate to North American birds. For this
reason I desire to call the attention of American readers of the book, as
well as others, to certain of the author's claims regarding some American
birds which he, refers to in illustration of certain of his statements. I do
this with the greatest deference.
On page 16, five lines from the foot of the page, we read: "When one thinks of numbers of individuals such as these, which cannot be grasped by human intelligence, it seems absurd to talk of a conceivable diminution in the number of birds being effected through the agency of man." In North America, such a statement, in my opinion, can scarcely be assented to, as witness the destruction of American Golden Plovers (Charadrius domincus), Eskimo Curlews (Numenius borealis), and Bartramian Sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda), as also other species, in the Mississippi Valley during the spring migration to their northern breeding grounds. Also witness the fabulous quantities of eggs of the Water-birds taken in the far Northwest, as also on the Northeast coasts of North America.
On page 44 he savs: "We have stated in the course of this chapter that birds perform the journey from their winter quarters to the breeding stations, if possible, in one uninterrupted flight." In North America, as far as my observation shows, the reverse is the case with some of the Water-birds. The American Golden Plovers, Eskimo Curlews, Bartramian Sandpipers, and Black-bellied Plovers (Charadrius squatarola) all linger in the Mississippi Valley, and the last named on the Atlantic coast, on their way to their breeding grounds.
On page 51, in writing of Diving Ducks, etc., he says: "All these birds when alive and undisturbed (as also do their carcases) float so lightly on the water that they scarcely make any noticeable depression in it." I have always regarded the three varieties of Scoters (Oidcmia americana,
