96 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



babble of wild ducks that had gathered around 

 him, unconscious of an enemy being so near. This 

 sight effectually sobered him, and cautiously firing 

 into them, he made a good bag. Profiting by his 

 environment, and the eagerness of parties of birds 

 to use the open water, he kept the game going, 

 and at length found upon the ice on either side of 

 him two small heaps of slain. This old man was 

 subsequently drowned on Breydon after a drunken 

 spree. 



It is an exceptionally rare circumstance to see 

 a duck of any species, unless slightly wounded, on 

 the beach. I have seen, however, pretty plain 

 evidence that some of the diving ducks do take a 

 quiet sit down on the beach at night ; but they are 

 so exceedingly wary that one can never actually 

 find them there, the slightest footfall being enough 

 to startle them ; and only a few footprints, or some 

 droppings here and there, remain to mark the spot. 



Strong northerly winds are responsible for the 

 rather rare appearance of the Eider (Somateria 

 mollissima), and it is a fortunate one indeed that 

 ever returns, for its tameness is taken advantage of 

 by the merest urchin who can throw a stone with 

 the slightest skill. On December 1883 one was 



