WADERS, DIVERS, AND OTHER FOWL. 237 



included in the former category, so very few are ever found 

 here in winter, though abundant enough in August. 



The months of August and September, it will thus be 

 seen, are a period of great activit}' among the feathered 

 tribes of the coast, and an interesting period to spend among 

 them. Rambling about on a fine autumn day over the 

 rolling wastes of sand, one can enjoy many charming views 

 of bird-life. Suddenly one finds oneself almost in the midst 

 of a flock of graceful little creatures — Dunlins, Ring-Dotterels, 

 and Sanderlings, all mixed — which, among the myriad small 

 pyramidal piles cast up by the sand-worms, had escaped 

 observation at first. So tame are they that one can watch, 

 close at hand, their pretty postures and agile movements as 

 they dart about, nimble as mice, each little form reflected on 

 the mirror-like surface of the wet sand. Further on, close 

 up to the sand-links, are little parties of the Curlew- Sand- 

 pipers, and where a mussel-bed has created a mixed deposit 

 of mud and sand, will be found the Turnstones and a few 

 Grey Plovers. The great chattering flights of Godwits are 

 always wild and cannot be approached on foot ; they and the 

 Knots mostly frequent the mud-flats. Overhead, behind, and 

 on every side resounds the incessant scream of the Terns, 

 busily fishing in the little pools left by the receding tide. 

 Head-first into the shallow water they plunge, one after 

 another, completely disappearing for a second, and hardly 

 will the small fish escape their scissor-like bills. In sheer 

 exuberance of spirits they scream and dive, and dive and 

 scream again. Presently there is turmoil ; one of their perse- 

 cutors, the piratical Skuas, has come on the scene, and the 

 ])lucky little birds at once unite in a combined attack on 

 their common enemy. 



Some very interesting problems centre round these little 

 August migrants. Few problems now^adays remain unsolved 

 — that is, few of what may be called questions of fact, though 

 dozens of mere abstruse interest still remain unanswerable. 

 Who, for example, can say why the Godwit, Knot, and 

 Curlew-Sandpiper should turn wholly rufous-coloured in 

 summer, while the allied Curlew, Whimbrel, Greenshank, 

 and others remain unchanged ? Why should the Plovers and 



