242 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



rush up and down the coast-lines according as the 

 weather compels them. They do not come to grief 

 in the same way as the sea-ducks and divers that 

 I have seen washed ashore, beaten or blown to 

 death by wind or water. I have never known this 

 to be the fate of any members of the family we are 

 now considering. 



As a rule, they are good birds for eating ; in fact, 

 many of them are considered delicacies, and so, as 

 a natural consequence, they receive the very best 

 attention from the fowlers. If one of my readers 

 should happen at any time to pick up a dead wader, 

 he would find, on carefully examining the bird, a 

 shot-mark or some other trace of accidents to which 

 such birds are subject. The very impetuosity of 

 their flight is at times the cause of their death ; for 

 when travelling at top speed, low down, as they 

 frequently do, just to clear the shingle or the sand- 

 dunes, if they come in contact with a thistle-stem 

 or a dried tangle of sea-holly, it is enough to kill 

 them. One of the finest female sparrow-hawks I 

 have ever seen lost her life through a trivial shock 

 received when at full speed ; for the strongest birds 

 have about them that subtile vital principle so little 



