264 Wild Ducks, Water- Birds, Sea- Fowl. 



dab-chick, or little grebe, will sometimes pass down from 

 marshy lands to the sea- 

 shore, and do a little bit of 

 business in the shallower 

 pools-left by the tide, moving 

 about them with a quick- 

 ness and buoyancy all its 

 own. From its smallness 

 and its darting swiftness 

 amid its bigger companions, 

 it has been likened to a 

 torpedo boat among other 

 and heavier craft. The 

 hooded crow with his grey 

 coat loves the sea-shore 

 too, and will sometimes be 

 seen quietly feeding near to 

 wild ducks, black-backed 

 gulls, and herring gulls. 



One of the prettiest and most interesting denizens of 

 the sea-shore at certain seasons is the turnstone. It is 

 a very nimble bird, and has good right to the name it 

 bears. Some very interesting points have been noted 

 about the life and habits of the turnstone, which have 

 been very admirably summed up in that carefully 

 edited, well-written and beautifully illustrated work 

 on Shooting (one of the " Badminton Library " Series), 

 edited by Lord Walsingham and Sir Ralph Payne- 

 Gallwey, where we find the following passage : 



" The turnstone is a handsome bird, about as large 

 as a thrush, and having a black, chestnut, and white 

 appearance. It derives its name from its habit of 

 running about on the beach, and turning over stones 

 with its bill in order to obtain the small Crustacea that 



