Shore Birds in Late December 



bunch of seaweed and remains dry until the wave has receded. 

 When approached, he merely runs a few yards and then 

 stands, half hidden, behind some patch of seaweed. But, 

 to my surprise, after standing thus some time he seems to 

 bestir himself, and uttering one shrill cry rises from the 

 ground and flies very fast along the sand, being soon lost 

 to view. 



Close into the rocks a couple of cormorants and an eider 

 duck are diving. At the coming of each wave the birds are 

 forced to submerge to escape the wall of green water, but this 

 seems to trouble them not at all. The eider soon comes up 

 with some species of shellfish in her bill, but the fishing 

 operations of the cormorants are unproductive. A little 

 farther out a herring gull has fared better, for he has suc- 

 ceeded in capturing a gurnard. But to swallow this fish with 

 its sharp fins and large head is a difficult problem, and it is 

 after many unsuccessful attempts that the feat is accom- 

 plished. 



The sun, these short days of late December, never mounts 

 high above the horizon, and dusk falls early, but with many 

 of the shore birds, night, as well as day, is a time for feeding, 

 and whether they shall sleep or feed is determined entirely 

 by the state of the tide. 



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