THE WINTER YELLOW-LEGS 179 



webbed on his middle and outer toes lie is a fair 

 swimmer at need. 



Lonely sea-beach, rockweed-covered ledge, or 

 wind-swept expanse of waving grass with its 

 bright strips of water reflecting the blue above 

 — these are the haunts of the many birds num- 

 bered among the *'bay snipe," and though the 

 woodcock enthusiast and grouse hunter is in- 

 clined to belittle this style of shooting it is not 

 every bungler who can "make a double" on 

 these swift coursers of the marsh, and it is very 

 pleasant in the bright August days for the 

 sportsman to sit in his innocent looking blind 

 at the edge of a promising pool or to wander 

 from one feeding ground to another — from 

 muddy creek to brown-margined '^pond-hole," 

 with his gun ever ready for the chance which 

 fortune may send him. A clear, bright day, the 

 sun glinting in diamond points on the blue 

 waves and glistening on the sails far out at sea ; 

 the dazzling white of the sandbanks and the 

 bar which marks the river's mouth showing 

 through the breaks in the tall grass; and the 

 mellow pipings of the birds as the flocks sweep 

 past in full career ; all go to make a day's outing 

 fit to offset a year of care and worriment. How 



