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pretty flowny little fellows they are. If you should happen to 

 come near them, the old birds give a plaintive complaining note 

 of "weet, weet," and a sort of soft subdued whistle, and the young 

 birds scuttle under cover as quick as possible. They are adepts at 

 hiding, and if you take your eyes off them for an instant, it will 

 take you all your time to catch sight of them again ; and at the 

 same time the parent birds are using all the wiles that Nature has 

 given them to decoy you away— tumbling about as if their wings 

 were broken, just keeping out of your reach — and when they allure 

 you sufficiently far from the spot, they wheel right back to where 

 the chicks are hiding. The parent birds are very assiduous in the 

 care of their young, and when they take wing, the old ones lead 

 the van to some sheltered place, all the while uttering their sweet 

 ringing cry of "willy wicket, willy wicket." The family keep 

 together all the summer through, and it is a pretty sight to see 

 them feeding in some sequestered place. 



Although this bird breeds so close to Carlisle, some of the 

 species in the same family breed in high northern latitudes. The 

 eggs of the Sanderling were first found during the late Arctic 

 Expedition ; and the eggs of the Knot Sandpiper, a common 

 winter visitor here, are as yet unknown to science : the eggs have 

 never been found, although the young ■ were seen during the late 

 Expedition under Sir George Nares, in the highest known latitude 

 where bird life existed. In autumn, numerous family parties from 

 the upper reaches of the rivers make down to the marshes, where 

 they stay a short while previous to migrating to their winter home 

 in the "sunny south." 



Whilst sketching these notes on our Summer Visitors, what 

 pleasant reminiscences have been brought to my memory, of happy 

 days and hours spent among our fells, mosses, moors, marshes, 

 hedgerows, and woods. The study of Natural History is an 

 unalloyed pleasure ; and only those know the happiness it brings 

 who have opened the pages of the great book of Nature. It 

 operates on our kindly feelings, and in many instances opens the 

 comniunication to the most pleasing acquaintances, which from 

 congeniality of disposition ripen into the warmest friendships. 



