WILD WINGS: A FAREWELL 297 



stretch of mud at the mouth of the river or small 

 estuary which serves Wells as harbour ; and here some 

 sixty or seventy birds had gathered to amuse them- 

 selves before going to roost. Here would be a bird 

 looking for something to eat, and when he found a 

 small crab or other morsel he would make a great to-do 

 about it, and hold it up as a challenge to others ; then 

 his next neighbour would set upon him and there 

 would be a sham-fight, and the crab would be captured 

 and carried triumphantly away, only to be used as a 

 challenge to others. This was but one of a dozen 

 different forms of play they were indulging in, and 

 while this play on the ground went on, at intervals of 

 a few seconds a bird would shoot straight up into the 

 air to a height of eighteen or twenty feet, then, turning 

 over, tumble straight down to the ground again. To 

 drop vertically down seemed to be the aim of every 

 bird, but with a wind blowing they found it a some- 

 what difficult feat, and would wriggle and flutter 

 and twist their wings about in various ways to save 

 themselves from being blown to one side. At longer 

 intervals a bird would shoot up to a height of forty 

 to sixty feet, going up in a much easier way than the 

 others, with a stronger flight and falling more skilfully, 

 almost like a stone. So great was the difference be- 

 tween this display and that of the generality that these 

 birds were like old practised hands or professionals at 

 the game, and the others mere amateurs or beginners. 

 On describing what I had witnessed to an old fisher- 

 man and fowler, he said, "I've watched them playing 



