THE DUNLIN. 457 



I made an excursion to the coast of ^N'orfolk for the pur- 

 pose of observing the habits of the sea-side Grallatores 

 and JSTatatores which, in winter, resort to that coast. Nu- 

 merous as were the species and individuals of these birds 

 which then flocked to the beach and salt-marshes, I have 

 no doubt, in my own mind, that they were all outnumbered 

 by Dunlins alone. Of nearly every flock that I saw 

 feeding on the wet sand or mud, fully half were Dun- 

 lins ; many flocks were composed of these birds alone ; 

 while of those which were constantly flying by, without 

 alighting, the proportion of Dunlins to all other birds was, 

 at least, three to one. Added to which, while the parties 

 of other birds were susceptible of being approximately 

 counted, the individuals which composed a flock of Dun- 

 lins were often innumerable. 



At one time, we saw in the distance, several miles off, 

 a light cloud, as of smoke from a factory chimney : it 

 moved rapidly, suddenly disappeared, and as suddenly 

 again became visible. This was an enormous flock of 

 Dunlins, consisting of many thousands at least. They 

 did not come very near us ; but smaller flocks which flew 

 about in our immediate vicinity presented a similar ap- 

 pearance. As the upper surface of their bodies was turned 

 towards us, they were of a dark hue : suddenly they 

 wheeled in their flight as if the swarm was steered by a 

 single will, when they disappeared ; but instantaneously 

 revealed themselves again flying in a different direction, 

 and reflected glittering snowy white. 



Dunlins, wliile feeding, show a devoted attention to 

 their occupation, which is not often to be observed in 

 land birds. They run rapidly, looking intently on the 

 ground, now stopping to pick up some scrap of animal 

 matter which lies on the surface of the sand, now boring 

 for living prey where they detect indications of such prey 

 lying hid. Occasionally an individual bird appears to suffer 

 from lameness, and halts in its progress as if its legs were 



