44 The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 



hardly any wing. This last was more like a 

 flipper, and upon one occasion, when no less 

 than three had caught in the meshes, a dispute 

 arose between us as to whether they were able 

 to fly. Kittiwake and I argued that whilst 

 they were resident and bred in the marshes, 

 yet their numbers were greatly augmented in 

 autumn by other birds which came to spend 

 the winter. Whilst I contended that they 

 flew, Kittiwake said that their tiny wings could 

 never support them, and certainly neither of us 

 had ever seen them on their journeyings. Two 

 of the birds we took a mile from the water, 

 and then threw them into the air, when they 

 darted off straight and swift for the mosses 

 which lay stretched at our feet a mile below. 



