THE ESTUARY 135 



their well-known cry, but a sort of clamorous and con- 

 tinued noise, something after this manner : " Eedle 



eedle eedle eedle eedle eedledoo eedledoo eedle 



eedle eedle." The sound travels very distinctly over the 

 water, though the birds may be a mile or more away. 

 The Curlews were evidently moulting when we were at 

 Knysna, as numbers of their feathers were to be found 

 on the shores of the larger islands. 



The spring tides run very high at Knysna, and the 

 rough grass near the water's edge was often flooded for 

 a distance of fifty or a hundred yards from the shore, 

 leaving little pools and excrescences of ground that 

 formed hiding places for the smaller Plovers and Sand- 

 pipers which frequented the estuary in even greater 

 numbers than the larger wading birds. These small 

 waders would start up, apparently from nowhere, the 

 Plovers flying only a short distance and then settling, 

 the other little wading birds forming themselves into a 

 flock, and flying over the water in ordered flight, now 

 lost to view against the screen of distant hills, now flash- 

 ing their white underparts as they wheel round and 

 settle, with almost soldierly precision, no great distance 

 off. The tide is still rising, and as the narrow ridge 

 of grass that represents all that is visible of the small 

 island on which they have settled is gradually sub- 

 merged, these small waders themselves present the 

 appearance of an island supported by innumerable stilt- 

 like legs. 



There is a rock which stands a little way out to sea 

 from the Knysna Heads, on which the Egrets were 

 supposed to breed ; I do not know that anyone had 

 ever landed on this rock, but it was argued that because 



