MOVEMENTS OF SHORE-BIRDS 99 
for them to seek their food both day and night. They feed 
most greedily between half-ebb and ebb tide, but when high 
spring tides are running, which keep their grounds covered so 
long with water, they become anxious to feed as soon as the 
tide has left bare the first tract of feeding ground. In autumn, 
when high tides occur and no resting-ground on the shore is 
left bare at top tide, the shore-birds will often resort to large 
pastures, fallow fields, and such places inland. If disturbed 
they then take wing to sea, where they will fly for hours together 
until the tide again ebbs. Shore-birds of the larger and more 
worthy kinds, such as curlew and godwits, when much per- 
secuted become exceedingly wary and fly high when crossing 
what they know to be dangerous spots ; but in the usual course 
of things these birds if unmolested make their daily tidal flights 
at no great height. Flying against a strong wind, they merely 
skim the ground, only rising a little to take the banks. The 
shore-gunner in quest of shore-birds should aim to ‘‘hit off” 
these flight-lines of the birds. 
We have already referred to this subject as 
being classed in two ways, namely, day and night. 
Day-flighting happens irregularly, whereas what is termed 
night-flighting occurs daily—morning and evening—during 
the shooting season. It matters little what birds are being 
pursued by the shore-gunner, the general rule applying to 
flight lines of one class—if a rule can be laid down—applies 
to another in an equal degree. We will take duck-flighting, 
for example. Evening flights generally result in better sport 
than morning flights. This may be accounted for by the 
fact that in the evening the birds are hungry and anxious 
to reach their feeding grounds, whereas in the morning, after 
having had their fill, they are not in any great hurry, and 
often do not wing seawards until disturbed. When a flight- 
line of ducks is struck, observe the direction and strength 
of the wind. Unless the gunner is informed he will have to 
FLIGHTING 
