I02 THE PETCHORA IN FLOOD 



for more ammunition. On returning to the open marshy 

 ground, I found the birds still there, and very soon 

 secured another half-dozen. My last shot was a double 

 one. As I was getting over the soil upon which some 

 pipits had been sitting, a hawk rushed past clutching a 

 bird in its claws. A dozen wag-tails set off after it in 

 vociferous pursuit. I followed more quietly, and soon 

 had the satisfaction of laying a male sparrow-hawk upon 

 its back, with a half-eaten sparrow beside it. Some wag- 

 tails remained perched upon the railing behind which the 

 hawk had retired to finish the devouring of its prey. 

 They uttered cries, which might be interpreted either as 

 doubting the supposed escape of their foe, or as a paean 

 of rejoicing over its downfall. The sight of their enemy 

 lying motionless on its back rendered them deaf to the 

 sound of my gun and blind to my presence. They 

 remained undismayed within a few yards of me, not 

 stirring until I had packed away the hawk. At this 

 juncture my companion came up. He had been more 

 fortunate than I in his raid upon the reptiles, and had 

 secured a couple, which we found to be a species of toad, 

 with whitish and black spots and stripes on the back. 

 At this pool I now secured a Temminck's stint, and my 

 companion another pipit, making the eleventh shot that 

 day. For weeks we had never succeeded in shooting 

 more than one out of a flock. They had abounded 

 during the last fortnight in the fields and in the open 

 ground about the town. We had seen hundreds, and 

 yet, during those two weeks, we had not secured more 

 than five males and one female ; now in a couple of 

 hours we had bagged ten males and one female out of a 

 single flock. We had found them wild, and seldom 

 disposed to settle on the ground. It was curious that 

 these pipits should have been so different from the 



