OriLithoIoyy of West Jutland. 347 



sidcrablc iiuinbers; they were going al)out in pairs, and it 

 was veiy interesting to watch them ; they frequently took 

 'Mieaders '^ into very shallow water within a few yards of us, 

 and after one had dived and caught a small fish it always 

 flew to the shore and alighted, often close to us. Its mate 

 then invariably joined it, when the two entered into quite a 

 little flirtation before our eyes, and then they would recom- 

 mence fishing. 



In addition to the Terns, the Common Ring-Plover and 

 Lesser Ring-Plover (^yia/i/is curonica) were breeding here, 

 as well as the Kentish Plover {JE. cantmaa), and Ave ob- 

 tained specimens of all. The last species was new to me 

 in a wild state, and I certainly should not have recognized 

 it so soon had not my brother, who was familiar with it in 

 the Spanish marismas, detected it at once by its white throat. 

 The Common Ring-Plover already had eggs ; but although 

 we watched a Kentish Plover run to her nest and sit down 

 on it, still it contained no eggs. This nest was a mere 

 scratching on the bare sand, slightly sheltered by some drift 

 peaweed. Almost every hour of the day small flights of 

 Whimbrel [Nvmenius pliceopus) were to be seen, all steadily 

 making northwards to breed in higher latitudes. Similarly 

 we observed Brent Geese {Bernicla brenta) passing at sea; 

 Scoters, Wigeons, a few unrecognized diving Ducks, Mer- 

 gansers, and Red-throated Divers Avere all observed at sea, 

 while many Great Black-backed Gulls, all in brown plumage, 

 frequented the shore. 



The coast where the Terns were breeding was separated 

 from an extensive fiord, or shallow marine area, by a very 

 long narrow strip of sandhills and bent-grass, and at one 

 point in the fiord a level promontory projected some four or 

 five miles into the fiord. The whole surface of this headland 

 was overgrown with short salt-grass, raised about a couple of 

 feet above high-water mark, and at low tide large areas of 

 sand and mud were laid bare, extending in some directions 

 far beyond the shores of the promontory itself. Dotted 

 about in the fiord, beyond the boundaries of the salt-grass 

 spit^ were sundry islets^ covered with a rougher kind of sea- 



2b 2 



