SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



chickens or petrels — either Wilson's or 

 Leach's — sometimes fly close to the beach. 

 They are black birds nearly the size of robins, 

 with white patches on their rumps. Leach's 

 petrel has a forked tail and short legs, while 

 in Wilson's petrel the tail is not forked, and 

 the legs are so long that when stretched out 

 behind, as the bird is flying, they reach beyond 

 the tail. While the Leach's petrel breeds 

 along the Maine coast and farther north, Wil- 

 son's petrel breeds in the antarctic regions in 

 the summer, our winter, and comes north 

 across the equator to spend the northern sum- 

 mer with us. 



Much might be said about various loons, 

 auks, and grebes that can be seen from the 

 dunes, but many of these prefer rocky shores. 

 The loon— that splendid great diver that ad- 

 vances more rapidly below the water than on 

 the surface— the smaller red- throated loon, 

 and the horned and Hoelbell's grebes are, 

 however, familiar birds along these sandy 

 shores. 



In the duck family the first on the list is 

 the red-breasted merganser or sheldrake, he 

 with the saw-like bill, the hec-scie of the Aca- 

 dians. Of late years this bird appears to have 



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