278 BRITISH SEA, BIRDS. 
board, but they are arrivals from other lands, and 
often passing south or north, as the case may be, 
to yet more distant haunts. Among the more 
prominent of these, we may mention the Gold- 
crest, which often abounds on the coasts of the 
German Ocean; the Skylark and the Starling, that 
come each year in countless hosts; the various 
Finches and Thrushes, that visit us each season 
to pass the winter in our land. Then, more locally, 
there is the Snow Bunting and the Shore Lark— 
Arctic birds that visit us more or less commonly. 
The Common Bunting, too, is a common resident 
on many parts of the littoral area. Of other species 
we may mention the Short-eared Owl, the Sparrow- 
Hawk, the Woodcock—migrants from over the sea, 
tarrying but a short time to rest near the shore, 
before speeding inland, or yet further south. The 
Rook obtains much of its food from the sands in 
littoral districts; the Starling often congregates in 
vast flocks on the saltings. I have even seen the 
Rook take its food from the surface of the sea, 
precisely in the same manner as a Gull. 
