A CALIFORNIA BEACH 



they make of it. I was highly favored only the 

 other day by a flock of four blacks, birds which 

 summer in the far north, and in September 

 wend their way southward. 



As soon as I discovered them, at pretty long 

 range, I set about a more or less cautious ap"^ 

 proach, somewhat hasty at first, but at a slack- 

 ened pace as I drew nearer, till at last I barely 

 moved. They paid no heed, and presently I per- 

 ceived that I had no occasion to go farther, as 

 they were traveling in my direction. I stood 

 stock-still, therefore, and soon they had come as 

 near as I could have desired. 



They were feeding in three ways. Sometimes 

 they followed the receding breaker, gleaning 

 from the surface, as it seemed, such edibles as 

 it had washed in. Mostly, however, they busied 

 themselves upon the wet sand just above the last 

 reach of the falling tide. 



Once they found a place where the shrimps or 

 prawns were evidently more plentiful than else- 

 where, and it was amusing to see how eagerly 

 they worked, each determined to get its full share 

 of the plunder; like children — as memory called 

 up the picture — who, after a forenoon of disap- 

 pointments, have come upon a patch of thickly 

 covered berry-bushes. Thrusting their short, 

 stout bills into the sand, they drew out their 

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