294 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



cast up by the sea as the geese are of corn, and when 

 they have an hour before going to roost to spend 

 in play. 



One evening I was greatly entertained by their 

 performance, when the tide was out, leaving a wide 

 stretch of mud at the mouth of the river or small 

 estuary which serves Wells as harbour; and here 

 some sixty or seventy birds had gathered to amuse 

 themselves before going to roost. Here would be a 

 bird looking for something to eat, and when he found 

 a small crab or other morsel he would make a great 

 to-do about it, and hold it up as a challenge to others; 

 then his next neighbour would set upon him and 

 there would be a sham fight, and the crab would be 

 captured and carried triumphantly away, only to 

 be used as a challenge to others. This was but one 

 of a dozen different forms of play they were indulging 

 in, and while this play on the ground went on, at 

 intervals of a few seconds a bird would shoot straight 

 up into the air to a height of eighteen or twenty feet, 

 then, turning over, tumble straight down to the ground 

 again. To drop vertically down seemed to be the aim 

 of every bird, but with a wind blowing they found 

 it a somewhat difficult feat, and would wriggle and 

 flutter and twist their wings about in various ways 

 to save themselves from being blown to one side. 

 At longer intervals a bird would shoot up to a height 

 of forty to sixty feet, going up in a much easier way 

 than the others, with a stronger flight and falling 

 more skilfully, almost like a stone. So great was the 

 difference between this display and that of the gener- 



