54 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



To all this banter Splashey merely replied that 

 he should like a drop more " ager-mixtur," if any was 

 left. When they got him home he was got to bed 

 as quickly as possible ; but it was some time before 

 the lap-stone was heard to rattle again beneath his 

 hammer. 



The kind-hearted host of the Royal George re- 

 marked that many a true word was spoken in joke 

 at times ; but when he said, "git Splashey a place, 

 he never reckoned as the old feller was a-goin' to 

 pick one out fur himself like that ; but he'd find the 

 old boy in ager-mixtur till he came to hisself again." 



Splashey never went fowling after that incident. 

 I had the pleasure once of hearing him relate his 

 experiences on that sand-spit. According to his 

 account, he shot so many fowl that they would block 

 up a sluice-gate if they all drifted there. One thing 

 was noticed, if Josher, Baulk, or Craft were near 

 he could never be coaxed to speak about that day's 

 sport. 



The Dunlin or Ox-bird can be found in numbers 

 all round those coasts suited to its habits. So far 

 as my opinion goes, its flesh is certainly eatable, but 

 not particularly good. Shore-shooters would miss 

 the Dunlin, if it left us, for there is a sale for them. 

 There is not the least fear of their being thinned 

 off; their numbers are legion. 



The various factories now to be found in so many 

 places close to the edge of the tide have naturally 

 caused them to visit some of their once noted haunts 

 in diminished numbers ; simply because their food- 



