340 Pictures of Bird Life 



seemed daily on the increase, and we could see that a little 

 later all this neighbom-hood would be indeed a " paradise 

 for ornitholog'ists." 



Many thousands of Brent Geese still lingered, postponing 

 their departure for their Arctic breeding-grounds. The 

 whole expanse of marsh traversed by us was cohered with 

 the evidence of their recent abundance. It resembled, in 

 fact, a huge farmyard, and it was difficult to hnd a clean 

 spot large enough to sit down on. Tlie fishermen in the 

 autumn and winter shoot great numbers of them from 

 hiding-places, in which they lay prone on the watch. I 

 heard of one man having killed twenty-one wild Swans from 

 one of these in one day last autunm. 



The place is evidently a favoured resort of birds the 

 whole year roimd. As soon as the sinnmer visitors depart 

 with their families, their place is taken by winter birds 

 which have sj^ent the summer in distant northern latitudes. 



