1G6 



manner before closing them. They run with alacrity along the 

 gravel, or paddle in the shallows looking for food, or run quickly 

 along the sand beds, leaving their pretty footprints on the wet 

 sand. You may at times come suddenly upon them round the 

 bends of the river — but as a rule they are very alert— and startle 

 them, when they fly up the stream uttering their sweet refrain, 

 "willy wicket, willy wicket." In the early part of the breeding 

 season, the grotesque antics of the male bird whilst dancing in 

 attendance around the female, has often caused me to burst into 

 uncontrollable fits of laughter. 



They enliven the river sides and borders of our lakes, and as 

 they are active in all their movements, whether on foot or on the 

 wing, with their pretty plumage and dapper form, they are sure to 

 attract the eye of the wanderer in those parts. In my angling days, 

 many times I neglected filling my creel, by my attention being 

 more devoted to the merry gambols of this bird, and other birds 

 which are to be found in the same localities. The many curious 

 insects, the beautiful flowers, the calm tranquil scenes, and the 

 many strange objects which come across the angler's eye whilst 

 standing silently in the river side solitudes, these are quite sufficient 

 to spoil the day's fishing. 



You need not go far from this city to see the Summer Snipe ; 

 you will always find a few pairs down by Stainton Banks, Grinsdale 

 Island, and Rickerby, where I have often found them breeding. 

 I have never myself noticed this bird perch, but there is a pretty 

 description of its doing so in The Birds of Cumberland. I have 

 observed it running along the stone walls by the side of the river, 

 and also along the trunk of a fallen tree. The bird breeds in the 

 middle of May, and makes a pretty, although not elaborate, nest. 

 I have seen the nest on the shingle, with just a little dried 

 grass on the inside, on the N.W. point of Rockcliffe Marsh, 

 just outside the tide mark, where, in a full tide, it would have 

 been carried away. It often happens that the water sweeps 

 over nearly the whole of the ground, and numbers of nests and 

 eggs of different birds are destroyed. We have seen them lying in 

 scores, where the tide had swept them from the breeding grounds 



