THE DUNLIN 463 



running along the edge of the water, ever busy in the quest for food. 

 Or with care in approaching the banks of creeks and small tidal rivers 

 that have cut a tortuous course through the salt-marshes, a very near 

 view may be had of their little, restless, grey humpbacked figures on 

 the sloppy mud-bed below. With bills ever directed to the ground, 

 and constantly stirring the sand or mud, they test every inch that may 

 conceal a tiny crustacean, a worm, or any one of the many good things 

 on which they live. They are so preoccupied, so intent on their 

 labours, that unless a ringed-plover or any other more watchful species 

 is at hand to sound a warning whistle and take them off on flashing 

 wings, to alight again at a safe distance, they may continue for a long 

 time running and feeding, unsuspicious of the presence of the watcher. 

 They run very quickly, and it may be necessary to shift one's position 

 in order to keep them in view. Seen thus close at hand for the first 

 time, they give a very different impression to the dunlin in pictures and 

 glass cases. There is none of that stiffly alert appearance, with erect 

 head, elongated neck, and set stride. One sees instead a number of 

 exquisitely soft-looking, grey-brown little birds, whose rounded backs, 

 drooping tails, and heads tucked close into their shoulders, convey a 

 quaint impression of old age. Their thin little legs ever on the move, 

 with no semblance of a swinging stride, but a dainty mincing gait, 

 carry them rapidly hither and thither as their sharp eyes detect signs 

 of life in various directions, giving them an appearance of nervous, 

 restless activity. Occasionally they run into the shallow water, and 

 wade for some distance still probing for food when at times their 

 heads are immersed under water. While feeding, especially when in 

 large flocks, they keep up a low purring or warbling ; but the sound 

 does not carry far, and to hear it one must be near the birds, and the 

 conditions must be favourable. 



As the season advances, flocks of moderate size may be seen in 

 company with ringed-plovers, and occasionally curlews and redshanks, 

 spread over a wide expanse of ooze exposed by the ebb. A warning 

 cry from one of the more alert species, and simultaneously all take 



