4i8 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



the most numerous. As these vast congregations 

 sweep by, flying low, they appear grey, but when 

 they ascend and turn the}^ flash pure white in the 

 sunshine. Far over the water they look like a 

 wreath of smoke on the horizon, and they are often 

 lost to sight until at length, suddenly wheeling, the 

 flash of silver reveals them for an instant in the far 

 distance. Seen near at hand, in the fall of the 

 year, the head, back and wings of the Dunlin are of 

 a grevish brown, and the under surfaces silvery- 

 white ; but in full breeding plumage the male takes 

 on handsome chestnut and black hues with some- 

 thing of the lustre of the Snipe, the lower breast, 

 like that of the Golden Plover, becoming a deep 

 black. 



The nesting area of this species is unusually wide, 

 extending to the most northerly latitudes, yet 

 numbers remain to rear their young on remote 

 Scottish mountains, and even on certain English 

 moorlands at sufficiently high elevations. 



As one watches the detachments running swiftly 

 on the flats, a bird may be noticed which at first 

 sight, in its grey and white plumage, bears a strong 

 resemblance to the Dunlin, with which in by-gone 

 times it was constantly confused. It is seen, how- 

 ever, that the bill is curved like a Curlew's, and 

 that as it flies, a broad band of white on the back 

 is disclosed. 



This bird — the Curlew Sandpiper — has long been 

 observed as a familiar visitor on migration to 

 English estuaries, but has never been known to 

 nest in Great Britain ; indeed, until recent years, 



