S36 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



broad-leafed plants and high grass. Sometimes 

 in later May, a Sandpiper flits from this spot quite 

 silently, and instead of seeking a resting-place upon 

 the nearest rock, holds a straight course up-stream 

 and disappears beyond the curve. This is so 

 unlike its usual manner that attention is at once 

 drawn to the place. The nest is not easy to dis- 

 cover, vet, when it is at length seen, one wonders 

 that it should so long have escaped observation. 

 It is barely concealed : a slight structure of dried 

 grass ; and it is only when the eye rests steadily 

 upon it that it is seen to differ from the many stray 

 wisps of stream tangle which lie bleaching around. 

 When the young- — tiny balls of mottled grey 

 which match the variegated hues of the shingle to 

 a marvel — are abroad, the demeanour of the parent 

 bird changes. She is seen at once to be piteously 

 concerned for the welfare of her little ones. Not 

 only does she flit anxiously from stone to stone 

 about the place where they are concealed, but she 

 will perch upon railings or on the branches of trees 

 close to the intruder, piping incessantly. If the 

 young are hard pressed, they take readily to the 

 water, where they swim and dive freely long before 

 thev can flv. The old birds, also, are expert swim- 

 mers and divers. If pursued by a Hawk, it is said 

 that thev will drop into the river without hesitation 

 and instantly disappear. In my experience, how- 

 ever, they never use this power except in times of 

 stress. 



Above the line of the willows, the river takes its 

 course through a hanging wood, and wading up- 



