TRACKS IN THE SAND 73 



wipe these out, and I trust I may not be obliged to 

 wait for the passage of another twelve years. 

 The first regret is that I did not observe whether 

 the seal used or did not use his front flippers in 

 swimming, when his back ones came into such 

 powerful play, and the second regret is that, alas I 

 I had left my camera at home. 



Bird tracks in the dunes are most abundant in 

 fall and winter when great flocks of snow bunt- 

 ings and horned larks spread their traceries over 

 the sand. The horned lark always walks or runs 

 and takes long strides, while the snow bunting 

 takes shorter steps and may sometimes hop. The 

 horned lark picks at the pointed stalks of 

 grass from the sand while the snow bunting fre- 

 quently perches on them. In both, as in the case 

 of the Lapland longspur, the mark made by the 

 hind toe and claw is long and well incised. 



The tracks of a flock of swallows that has 

 rested on a dune top during the fall migrations 

 are puzzling to the uninitiated. The birds do 

 not wander far, as their short legs and long 

 wings interfere with much pedestrian exercise. 

 In fact, their method of locomotion on the ground 



