20 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



{Gadus inoirkiia), haddock (Melanogrammiis ceglcfiniis), and pollock {Pollachiiis 

 vircns) rushing to their doom on the beaches in pursuit of small herring (Cltipea 

 harengns) which also beach themselves, or to escape the pursuing dog-fishes 

 {Squalus acantliias). The dog-fishes in their impetuosity often beach themselves, 

 and I have seen a dozen within a space of a few yards on the sand. This fish 

 has curious spines in front of its dorsal fins that resemble the upper mandibles 

 of Terns' bills.' I have sometimes in the evening seen the bony fishes men- 

 tioned above feebly flopping on the edge of the beach in the water, apparently 

 anxious to get onto dry land. Besides these fish there are two curious monsters, 

 both of which are frequently cast up by the waves. These are a skate {Raid), 

 allied to the sharks, sometimes three or four feet long, and the angler or fishing- 

 frog {Lopliius piscatoriiis), a large-headed bony fish. 



The fish are eagerly eaten by the Gulls and Crows, although the tough skins 

 of the sharks — dog-fishes and skates — make it necessary to wait until decay 

 has done its work. Innumerable insects, especially beach flies {Fucellia fticonnn, 

 Ccelopa frigida, and others), are attracted by all this carrion, and these in turn 

 bring Swallows and other Passerine birds. Besides the ever-present beach flies, 

 a tiger beetle {Cicindcla hirticollis) is very common on the beaches, and many 

 insects that have dropped exhausted into the water are thrown up on the shore. 

 This is strikingly the case with the hordes of ants that during the nuptial flights 

 in September sometimes line the beaches in windrows for miles. 



The common seaweeds thrown up on the beaches are: sea lettuce {Ulva 

 lactucd), rockweed {Fiicns vesiciilosits), red seaweeds (Rhodophycece), Irish moss 

 {Chondnis crispiis), and devil's aprons {Lami>iarid) . In the root-like attach- 

 ments of the last-named to mussels and stones are often found small museums 

 of marine invertebrates, all of which are appreciated by birds. 



The changing outline of the beaches is always an interesting study. Some 

 twelve years ago a narrow sand spit extended northwest from the beach and 

 parallel to it near the mouth of the Ipswich River. So narrow was this that I 

 have shot over decoys placed at the water's edge on both sides, building my 

 blind in the middle. As this spit extended and broadened, the sea constantly 

 throwing up more sand, and the wind seizing this and blowing it inland, the 

 lagoon which it enclosed was gradually cut off, leaving only a narrow outlet, 

 through which it filled and emptied at each tide. Its shores, being sheltered 

 from the sea, abounded in the common clam {Mya arejiarid), while only the sea 



1 See C. W. Townseiid: "A Case of Mistaken Diagnosis," Auk, vol. 20, p. 218, 1903. A spine of 

 a dog-fish found in a shell heap was identified at Washington as the upper mandible of the Royal 

 Tern ! In this connection see Josselyn, "New-England's Rarities," 1672 : "The Dog-fish a ravenous 

 Fish, upon whose Back grows a Thorn two or three Inches long, that helps the Toothach, scarifying 

 the Gums therewith." 



