and stones below. Invariably, however, some 

 sharp-eyed crow detected this maneuver and 

 seized the shattered shell-fish ere its owner could 

 retrieve it. Nor v/ere these black pirates averse to 

 engaging in an even graver form of robbery. For 

 soon I saw a gull glide upward, holding in its 

 mouth a small fish, when forthwith two crows flew 

 in its direction. Whereupon, perceiving its pur- 

 suers, the gull immediately bolted its mouthful. 

 But the tantalizing twain would not so easily be 

 denied; with one accord they heckled and so beset 

 the gull that it disgorged the fish and let it fall 

 for the freebooting birds to eat. 



It was then that I first became aware that some- 

 thing extraordinary was taking place at the water's 

 edge. The increased commotion among the birds, 

 and their concentration at a spot just beyond an 

 eclipsing ridge of sand which forms a spit across 

 the entrance to the cove, was in itself sufficient for 

 me to become inquisitive. Indeed, these were signs 

 that I could not well ignore; experience in these 

 matters had long ago taught me that even lesser 

 tokens augured that much therein might be util- 

 ized to the naturalist's considerable profit. But, 



[5] 



