FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



squirming prey, dropped it on the sand, picked 

 it up and shook it, and dropped it again, till 

 finally they had it in condition for swallowing. 

 These manoeuvres they repeated, all in desperate 

 competitive haste, till the beach within a circle 

 a few feet in circumference was thickly dotted 

 with minute hillocks of sand, such as I should 

 never have attributed to the work of any bird, 

 had it not been done before my eyes. Then the 

 supply seemed to be exhausted, and — like the 

 huckleberry-pickers — they moved on in search 

 of another bonanza. 



At other times they resorted to patches of sea- 

 weed lying here and there a little higher on the 

 beach, turning them bottom side up, or brushing 

 them aside, to feast on such small game as had 

 taken shelter underneath. Their action here was 

 like that of a dog when he buries a bone by 

 pushing the earth over it with his nose. They 

 lowered their heads, and with more or less effort 

 according to circumstances accomplished their 

 purpose. 



If the obstacle proved too heavy to be moved 

 in this manner, they drew back a little and made 

 a run at it, as men do before a jump or in using 

 a battering-ram. More than once I saw them gain 

 the needed momentum by this means, and much 

 I enjoyed the sight of their ingenuity. If they 



38 



