THE CHILDHOOD OF BIB-NECK 27 



one came down the beach and gave Bib-neck a great fright. 

 He lay quite still, but he felt sure the gull saw him ; for he 

 looked down and gave a loud, laughing shout that filled 

 Bib-neck with terror. Then the gull flew around and 

 around and called so loud that it seemed that all creatures 

 everywhere must hear the signal. 



A bird which appeared to be a small gull, but was in 

 reality a tern, did hear and soon joined him. It had a ter- 

 rible little voice and squeaked as though its wings were 

 fastened on with rusty hinges. Bib-neck lay very quiet 

 and hoped that they would not hurt him ; and they did not, 

 for probably they never saw him. Pretty soon the gull 

 flew down close to the little plover, and then with a cry like 

 a loud laugh it flew up again and went on down the shore 

 followed by the tern. An old straw hat had been washed 

 ashore and was lying near the spot where Bib-neck was 

 crouching, and it was no doubt this which had interested 

 the gull and the tern. 



But a more dangerous experience, if not a more fright- 

 ful one, was in store for this juvenile inhabitant of the 

 dunes. One day a sudden cry of warning from his mother 

 caused him to squat silent and immovable as the worn and 

 broken seashells about him. An instant later a fierce hawk 

 stopped suddenly in mid-air almost directly overhead. 



Now hawks are not common along these beaches and the 



