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By J. Lewis Bonhote, M.A. 



THE birds of the shore have always had a great 

 fascination for me, for in their beauty of shape 

 and proportions many of them are unsurpassed 

 throughout the whole bird world, and, from 

 their habit of spending most of their time on the 

 ground, they make most suitable inhabitants of an 

 aviary, and may be safely kept with the most delicate 

 of the Passeres. 



The Waders, or Limicolae, are essentially inhabi- 

 tants of saltings or marshes, and consequently but 

 seldom seen except by those who live near the sea or 

 some tidal river: but though spending most of their 

 time on or near the shore they retire inland, and in 

 the case of a large number of species to the limitless 

 tundra of the arctic regions, to breed. 



Almost every variation of form and habit is to be 

 met with among these birds, and within the limit of 

 this short article I can only hope to touch very briefly 

 on some of the principal forms. 



The Green Plover, Lapwing, or Peewit will pro- 

 bably be the most familiar to my readers. This bird, 

 which is with us all the year, inhabits low -lying 

 marshes and meadows, congregating during the winter 

 in enormous flocks often numbering many thousands ; 

 as spring comes on, however, the majority of these 

 birds leave us for their breeding quarters, but many 

 are still left to rear their young in our meadows. 



I once had the privilege of watching two birds in 

 my aviaries pairing up ; the cock erecting his crest to 

 its greatest extent and squatting on the ground, would 

 wheel round in a circle on his breast, picking up at 

 the same time blades of srrass which he would throw 



