Bird Life in a Suburban Parish 171 



1 luul .se\'eral times watched siiuill nunihers of Dunlins und 

 Ringed Plo^'ers through the winter, but a few of tlie latter 

 lingered on until the sinnmer. At last, one day a pair were 

 noticed wliich, by their behaviour, Mere unmistakably nesting ; 

 but unable to find anything, I feared that the eggs had 

 been destroyed by a harrow, which was at work o\'er the 

 ground chiefly haunted by them. Being about to go 

 abroad, I was unable to continue the search, but tiie super- 

 intendent, a good naturalist, kindly undertook to keep his 

 eye on them. On my return he told me he had caught 

 and handled two yoimg Ringed Plovers in down, which 

 had got into one of his carriers, and were unable to extricate 

 themsehes until he came to the rescue. This j)l'i<^es the 

 fact of their having nested beyond a doubt. 



'J'he sight of these daintiest of birds tripping over the 

 oozy margins of the pools and wading in search of food 

 was a great treat, and one day I was actually able to 

 photograph them ^hile so employed. With them were 

 sometimes a few Redshanks, which also remained on the 

 farm throughout the sunnner, but apparently, from their 

 actions, did not nest ; but 1 often enjoyed their wild note 

 and the sight of them feeding. Knots, Curlews, and 

 Green Sandpipers may also be frequently observed. 



Snipe are extremely common here during the winter 

 months, and in 1001 a pair nested. For daily one of them 

 used to " drum "' overhead ; but hours of searching up to 

 my knees in li(piid sewage failed to discover the nest — the 

 coarse, rank vegetation was too thick. 



