142 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



for some of our home-bred birds leave in autumn, and certainly 

 the majority of the vast hordes which may be seen in the spring 

 and autumn on the west coast do not remain all winter. At all 

 seasons there are Dunlins in our estuaries and on the shore, for 

 numbers of non-breeding birds remain all summer. A few pairs 

 nest in the south-western counties, but the true home of the 

 Dunlin is from Wales and the Derbyshire Peak northward. 



In any mixed party of small waders — "Little Birds," the 

 Lancashire and Cheshire fowlers call them — the Dunlin 

 predominates. It is a small, plump, fairly long-billed wader, 

 ashy grey with white under parts in winter, reddish brown and 

 black, with a large black patch on the lower breast, in summer. 

 There is no more variable wader than the Dunlin in size as 

 well as plumage. I have found birds vary in length from 

 6*9 inches to 7*8 inches, and in two cases both large and small 

 birds were from the same party ; it is now recognised that the 

 so-called T. schimu Brehm is merely a small Dunlin, and is 

 not even entitled to sub-specific rank. The length of the bill is 

 very variable ; I have found it from an inch to an inch and a 

 half long ; the shorter bills were almost straight and the longer 

 ones slightly curved downwards towards the tip. 



Sandbanks and estuarine mud-fiats are the favourite haunts 

 of the Dunlin, but it is also common along any sandy shore, 

 and in little sandy bays on a rocky coast ; saltings and 

 maritime marshes are also frequented ; it delights in the tidal 

 gutters. On the west coast, at any rate, the bird is most 

 abundant at times of passage. Early in February, even in 

 January, there is usually a northward movement, possibly of 

 birds which have never left England, and in March the 

 numbers are greatly increased, but in April and JMay the flocks 

 are immense. Towards the end of July the second increase 

 begins, which reaches its height in September. The winter 

 flocks are often very great, but small compared with the count- 

 less hosts on migration. So familiar a bird has many local 



