176 Pictures of Bird Life 



wind. By day the scene is one of* great animation, and the 

 constant alTi^'al of countless thousands fills the silent watches 

 of the night witli the beatings of innumerable wings and the 

 mysterious sound of their cries to one another. We see the 

 flocks whicli safely reach our shores : but who can estimate 

 the mnnbers of weary wanderers which fall utterly spent 

 and exhausted into the pitiless sea, or dash themselves 

 against the lanterns of liglitships and lighthouses, attracted 

 to tlieir death by the glaring rays ? 



On first arrival many of them are ridiculously tame, and 

 show by their boldness how unaccustomed tliey are to tlie 

 presence of man. Dunlins, instead of flying off at one's 

 approach, will often run behind a tuft of grass, and con- 

 tinue feeding in the most fearless and imconcerned manner, 

 and Godwits also show little fear. Danger, however, besets 

 them on every side, and they soon learn caution and how to 

 take care of themselves. Shore-shooters and gunners take 

 toll of them, and they are caught wholesale in the Higlit- 

 nets, wliich at this season are stretched over the Hats at right 

 angles to the incoming tide. During the night the treacherous 

 meshes entangle numbers of them wliile flying from one 

 feeding-ground to another, six or seven dozen Knots taken 

 out of one net being a not uncommon experience. 



At Friskney lives old l^ray, tlie most skilful Higlit-netter 

 on the coast ; and three or four days were spent with liim a 

 few years ago in watching his methods of circunnenting wild- 

 fowl. 



Turning out of our lodgings before daybreak one cold, 



