Song Birds and Water Fowl 
bodies, and fearfully long, straight necks, as if 
each one of them had swallowed a ram-rod ; 
while, farther on, were fully fifty gulls, which 
now and then gathered in solemn convention 
on a narrow sand-bar. Standing with their 
heads all turned in one direction, a more quiet 
and stupidly attentive audience one never saw ; 
until, either from a subtle simultaneous impulse, 
or at a signal from the leader of the meeting, 
the whole assembly suddenly rose on the wing, 
broke up into numerous committees, and posted 
off in all directions. 
Not far from this conclave I stumbled upon a 
flock of plovers. Brownish above, white be- 
neath, a distinct black ring around the lower 
part of the neck, white onthe forehead, bounded 
by black, about seven inches long, a running 
gait, and a general watery look—these were the 
external signs that certified the larger of the 
ring-necked plovers, the smaller species being 
the piping plover. To save time, I made im- 
mediate advances toward intimacy ; but at first 
they showed their decorous training by not al- 
lowing me to come within deau-shot. At length, 
however, timidity gave place to confidence, and, 
in a very mute way, we finally became quite 
sociable. 
174 
