INTRODUCTION. 17 



the shore would be far from being either pleasant or whole- 

 some if all the rejectamenta of the deep were allowed to 

 remain. But man has discovered that what the ancients 

 accounted worthless seaweed, is a precious gift from the 

 sea to the land, and it is consequently carted away, often 

 miles inland, that it may impart a richer verdure to the 

 pasture-fields, and greater fertility to what is under the 

 plough. There are also innumerable little creatures on the 

 shore ready to feast on the dead animals brought to them 

 by the tide. The very mice from the adjoining sand-hills 

 know the time of low water, and though they do not ven- 

 ture forth in broad daylight, they may often be seen foraging 

 among the seaweeds in the evening. Mocks of sea-birds, 

 however, carry on their operations by day; and even land- 

 birds know the turn of the tide, and flock down to cater on 

 the strand. Rooks fail not to visit the shore, that they 

 may feast on the shell-fish forsaken by the tide. The saga- 

 city they exhibit in reaching the contents of those bivalves 

 that are closed, and which their strong bills could neither 

 break nor open, is deserving of notice. They carry them 

 up to a considerable height, and, allowing them to drop on 

 the rocks, find on their descent that they are broken, and 

 that the feast of shells is ready spread for them ; or, if not 



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