126 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



into a large garden, where in a very short time it 

 became quite master of the situation, and was a 

 source of annoyance to the old cock, who could not 

 get a peck in anyhow, while the pert bird dodged 

 between his legs and around him, as if for the very 

 fun of it. The hen was quite a passive sort of 

 "pal" to the Lapwing, who preferred its society, 

 whether welcome or not, and usually spent its odd 

 times, when not engaged in examining all the likely 

 places for worms and vermin, in preening its feathers 

 beside her. 



I had at one time a tame Spoonbill, that con- 

 sorted with a quartet of large gulls in a netted area 

 some quarter -mile in circumference, although at 

 meal-times the gulls more often than not devoured 

 the sliced horse -beef thrown to them, while the 

 stupid wader was endeavouring to swallow a piece 

 much too big for the capacity of its small gullet. 

 The Spoonbills that visit Breydon so frequently in 

 spring and early summer invariably spend much of 

 their sleeping-time in the midst of a flock of gulls, 

 and also show a decided preference for feeding in 

 their society. 



A lady of my acquaintance was sitting on the beach 

 one afternoon in September 1898 with a bunch of 



