242 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS. 



such risks — at full-sea, I have seen large ploughed fields 

 quite " grey " with God wits. The other method is to lie in 

 wait for their flights at ebb and flow, when they have usually 

 more or less regular lines, a knowledge of which will afford 

 as much shooting for a few minutes as a grouse-drive. They 

 leave their feeding-grounds when the flowing tide covers 

 the flats, returning as soon as the sands begin to dry again, 

 at the ebb. The points they pass over in coming and 

 going to tbcir interim resting-places are the position for 

 the gunner. 



