LLANDDWYN 51 



that if they wished to study anthropology, they 

 should do so with some sense of the pre-eminence 

 of the race of the Shelduck in the hierarchy of being, 

 and not barter their birthright for a mess of cockles. 

 Entering the marsh proper, a wide expanse of 

 reeds and swamp, we put up large numbers of 

 Redshanks, their usually musical * Tyo ! ' so soft 

 and melancholy when borne from a distance in the 

 open, becoming a loud * Tyop ! tyop I ' as they beat 

 to and fro about us, calling with the wearying 

 persistence of Lapwings disturbed. From time to 

 time a Snipe went away with a wild ' 'scape ! ' and 

 wilder flight, seemingly inconsequent considering 

 that the bird often deferred rising until we were all 

 but upon it. But, though the imminence of danger 

 may paralyse, its presence will often arouse unwonted 

 energy and boldness. The hares and rabbits 

 abounding in the drier reed tracts appeared to be 

 governed by some similar principle. Scarcely hidden 

 by the reeds from one standing over them, they 

 crouched without movement at our feet, so that it 

 was not hard to snatch them up by the ears. Once 

 started, however, they flashed away and were gone. 

 Mallards rose in flocks and went away with out- 

 strained necks, wheeling round awkwardly on a wide 

 arc ere they slid down in some remote part of the 

 marsh. Lapwings, already in small bands, rose to 

 play for a few minutes in the distance, then sank and 

 disappeared. Numerous as must be the creatures 

 inhabiting such a spot, their very appearance and 

 disappearance serve only to accentuate its breadth 

 and loneliness. What the marsh gives up it swallows 

 again at once, so that all is still and motionless as if 



