284 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



it is on the rocks that it finds the chief por- 

 tions of its food. It is a strong, active bird, 

 but very wary and difficult to approach, its 

 powerful bill being singularly well adapted for 

 the purpose of procuring its food. Dixon gives 

 the following pathetic account of the affection 

 of which these birds are capable for each 

 other : ' In summer it is generally observed in 

 pairs, and few birds are more attached to each 

 other. If one of the birds is shot, its companion 

 flies round and round above its fallen comrade, 

 uttering its shrill mournful pipe, and every now 

 and then swooping down and almost touching its 

 body, utterly regardless of its own safety. I have 

 seen the oyster-catcher fly about for hours above 

 the body of its mate, which was lying in the sea, 

 slowly drifting with the tide ; and sometimes 

 several birds will come upon the sad scene and 

 chant the death-knell of their poor companion. 

 Who shall say, after this, that the " lower 

 animals " -as man is pleased to call them are 

 not capable of displaying sentiment as true and 

 as tender as his own ?' I have inserted the fore- 

 going extract in the hope that the heart of some 

 eager shore-gunner may be softened towards these 

 birds, which, after all, are neither fit for food, 

 sufficiently beautiful in plumage, nor rare enough, 

 to tempt any but the cockney sportsman to seek 

 their destruction. 



The dotterel, a bird at one time fairly common 

 in certain districts, may nowadays be classed, if 



