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stood, the male every now and then sinking into a slight hollow, 

 pretending to be sitting on eggs, while the female lay on one side 

 Happing one wing and holding a leg up as though wounded, in true 

 plover fashion. Had one followed them, they would have jumped 

 up, ran a little farther and rejoeated the performance again and 

 again, till they had drawn one away from their eggs. 



My assistant having made everything secure, I commenced what 

 turned out to be a long wait. Both birds pattered about, ten feet 

 away, the male trying to drive the female to the eggs, but she did 

 not summon up courage to do so till I had lain in a cramped posi- 

 tion for over an hour. She seemed very nervous and inclined not 

 to stay, so I pressed the bulb, when she jumped into the air as 

 though shot, and flew off. Though I waited another hour and 

 three-quarters, she did not return to the vicinity of the nest, so I 

 turned my attention to a colony of lesser terns. As we approached 

 the birds rose from their eggs, and greeted us with their alarm 

 notes, " skerret-skerret," by which name they are also locally known. 

 We soon found a nest, and erecting the tent I commenced what 

 proved another long and rather trying wait. The air inside the 

 tent became very oppressive, and the shingle a very uncomfortable 

 resting place. Altering my position was a very delicate operation in 

 view of the risk of shifting the shingle and the legs of the tripod. 



While waiting thus a wheatear, which has a habit of investigat- 

 ing holes for a suitable nesting place, came inside the tent, and 

 nearly committed suicide against one of the tripod legs, in its haste 

 to make its escape. Sundry bluebottles next put in an appearance, 

 and would persist in flying in my face when I was trying to watch 

 for the returning bird. Spiders and other creeping things also 

 endeavoured to claim a closer acquaintance, and all the while the 

 whole colony cf lesser terns were hovering overhead, uttering their 

 ear-piercing cries. 



After a while there was a lull, and only the owners of the eggs 

 continued to call. The male then settled close behind the tent and 

 the female some distance in front. Time after time she walked 

 towards the eggs, only to rise and hover overhead again. When I 

 had been waiting just over an hour she pitched quite close to the 

 eggs in a great rage, her head feathers raised and her body feathers 

 puffed out. Fearing that she might not stay after all, I pressed the 

 bulb, and secured a photograph of her in this angry mood, which 

 does not, however, make a good picture. The noise of the shutter 

 frightened her, and she rose immediately. After another half hour's 

 wait, she settled almost thirty feet oft", and walked toward the eggs, 

 only to rise and pitch again at the same distance. This was 

 repeated again and again, till I began to despair of her returning to 

 the eggs at all. J was by now feeling very cramped and shifted my 

 gaze from the peephole for a rest. Hearing a slight sound on the 

 beach, you may judge of my relief on again applying my eye to the 

 peephole, to find the bird settled on the eggs. Although the shutter 



